Recent advances in light irradiation for improving the preservation of fruits and vegetables: A review

Fruits and vegetables easily occur decay and quality deterioration during post-harvest storage. Although traditional fruit and vegetable preservation methods have been widely used in the fruit and vegetable industry, they may be harmful to human health. Hence, light irradiation as an emerging non-thermal non-toxic method of fruits and vegetables preservation has caught the attention of food industry to meet consumer demand. Light irradiation such as light emitting diode (LED), ultraviolet (UV), fluorescent light (FL) and pulsed light (PL) can effectively inhibit the growth of microorganisms or slow down their multiplication after harvest, achieving the goal of preserving the quality and merchantability of fresh fruits and vegetables. This paper reviews the mechanism and application of LED, UV, FL and PL in the preservation of fruits and vegetables, the effect of light treatment on nutritional quality, antioxidants, enzyme activity and disease resistance of fruits and vegetables, and discusses the current problems and prospects of light treatment. The influence of some environmental factors may have an unstable effect on the utilization of light, and further is needed to establish appropriate control measures and light treatments to improve the safety and stability of light in fruits and vegetables preservation.