Minimal processing of pomegranates (Punica granatumL.)—A review on processing, quality, and shelf life

Abstract

Lifestyles of modern consumers, along with their desire for fresh, convenient, and natural products that claim health benefits, have led to the current increase in the production and consumption of fresh‐cut horticultural produce. Pomegranates are a very good source of bioactive compounds along with its unique sensory properties. However, the hard peel of pomegranates makes it difficult to release arils, thus limits its consumption as fresh fruit. Minimally processed (MP) pomegranate arils serve as a convenient option for households, retail, catering, and food services. Minimal processing operations result in quality deterioration due to water loss, softening, increased respiration, aril browning, and microbial contamination that limits the shelf life of arils. Thus, scientific methods for preserving the quality of MP arils are required. The present article reviews the literature related to the production methodology of MP arils, quality changes during storage, and various strategies to increase the shelf life of MP arils. Practical applications There is a growing demand for MP horticultural produce. The present article provides beneficial information regarding handling, processing, and storage of ready‐to‐eat pomegranate arils for the horticulture fresh‐cut industry. The various methods discussed in this paper for the enhancement of shelf life of MP pomegranate arils benefit to various stakeholders involved in the pomegranate production and minimal processing value chain. Further it could increase the commercial production and utilization of MP pomegranate arils.

Application of Processing and Packaging Hurdles for Fresh-Cut Fruits and Vegetables Preservation

“…Taking into consideration that all of these physiological pathways downgrade product sensory and nutritional quality, the challenge of the current research lies on testing potential hurdles in order to counteract this physiological decay, including low temperatures, edible coatings, antioxidants, acidulants, antimicrobial agents, ethylene inhibitors, MAP packaging, etc. In recent literature, there are several interesting studies on quality degradation of minimally processed fruits and vegetables due to physiological activity, namely for pomegranate [ 30 ], celery [ 31 ], broccoli [ 32 ], tomato [ 14 ], asparagus [ 33 ].…”

“…This water loss process has serious adverse effects on the quality attributes of such perishable commodities, including loss of turgidity, shriveling, wilting, and withering [ 35 ]. There are numerous studies measuring these indices in order to assess product degradation [ 19 , 30 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ].…”

“…The browning of apples, peaches, pears, avocados, etc., is considered a major defect of these commodities and depends on the presence of phenolic compounds (the necessary substrate), the activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and the concentration of antioxidants within the fruit cells [ 46 ]. Bhatia et al [ 30 ], Zhao et al [ 36 ], Massolo et al [ 31 ], Paulsen et al [ 32 ], Kumar et al [ 39 ], Sucheta et al [ 40 ], and Lwin et al [ 33 ] have studied the color changes of minimally processed fresh-cut produce as an index to describe product degradation.…”

Pomegranate as a natural source of phenolic antioxidants: a review

“…The pomegranate tree thrives under arid and semi-arid conditions (Robert et al, 2010). In Asia, pomegranate has economic and cultural importance due to its high profitability and easy adaptation to various agroclimatic conditions, being commercially cultivated in the subtropical, tropical, and temperate regions of the continent (Bhatia and Asrey, 2019). Similarly to the majority of fruits, the chemical composition of pomegranate fruit varies according to soil and climate conditions where the plant is grown, as well as the fruit's maturation stage at harvest period (Andrade et al, 2019).…”

Active-Modified Atmosphere Packaging of Ready-to-Eat Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Arils at Ambient Temperature for Extending Shelf-Life

“…Therefore, preparation of pomegranate arils in ready-to-eat form would be a convenient alternative to increasingly busy consumer lifestyles in order to fulfill their needs with lower food safety risks. Nonetheless, maintaining the nutritional value of ready-to-eat pomegranate arils is facing new challenges, such as microbiological hazards and foodborne illnesses, which may cause decay as well as deterioration in the visual and nutritional quality, causing adverse impacts on human health [4]. Hence, it is imperative to reduce the higher microbiological risks associated with ready-to-eat pomegranate arils.…”