Ozone Technology and Photo Catalysis - The Newer Effective Methods for Keeping the Fruits and Vegetables Fresh for A Longer Period

P.P. Rout¹, Sanhita Padhi¹*

1.Department of Botany, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha

ABSTRACT

Fruits and vegetables form the major part of our balanced diet. The growth of the population has lead to the considerable increase in the demand for more consumption of fruits and vegetables which has also culminated the illness associated with these fruits and vegetables. With the development of science and technology, people not only require the food to be safe, but also they require it to keep their original flavour and nutritional value intact. Fungal contamination and some post harvest handling are the most common causes of the spoilage of fresh produce. Countermeasures include the synthetic fungicides, pesticides and pre packaged sanitation treatments including the use of chlorine and bromine. The traditional chemical storage method became unsuccessful to satisfy the growing demand of the people. Newer novel methods like ozone storage, plasma fresh keeping technology, electrolyzed reduction water technology, ultrasonic processing technology, photo-catalysis, super ice-temperature technology and ice film storage technology are now in focus. Ozone storage and photo-catalysis are the two promising fresh keeping technology for keeping the fruits and vegetables fresh along with their original flavour and nutritional value. Ozone is a viable alternative to those fungicides and pesticides as it is effective against a wide spectrum of microorganisms and does not leave any residues on the treated produce. In order to implement this technology and to know about its mode of action, it is necessary to study about ozone, its production, its concentration, the way of product packaging, standardizing the working conditions and the units to measure ozone concentration. Ethylene causes unwanted ripening, spoilage and financial losses. Photo-catalysis offers the greatest potential for removing ethylene preserving the produce both on Earth and also during spaceflights. In this method a catalyst and light acts together to remove ethylene by converting it into carbon dioxide and water.

Keywords: ozone, ethylene, photo catalysis, carbon dioxide, water