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The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic made people around the world more concerned about health and food safety. As a part of healthy diets, consumption of fruits and vegetables is essential to build strong immunity against various chronic diseases. However, contamination of fruits and vegetables may occur from farm to fork in the food supply chain process, thus affecting their post-harvest quality. Various disinfection technologies have been developed to prevent foodborne outbreaks caused by the consumption of unsafe food. This comprehensive review delves into the fundamental principles of physical, chemical, and novel treatments and their impact on the quality and shelf life of a wide range of fruits and vegetables. Chemical treatments such as chlorine dioxide, ozone, electrolyzed water, high-pressure carbon dioxide, and organic acids, as well as physical treatments, such as hot water blanching, steam blanching, and microwave blanching, have been discussed. Moreover, novel treatments such as cold plasma, UV light, pulsed electric field, and high hydrostatic pressure have also been explored. These treatments can be tailored to specific fruits and vegetables and integrated into food safety protocols to reduce the risk of foodborne outbreaks and improve the shelf life of these products.

Recently, consumers have demanded safe, nutritious, and healthy food. Due to rapid heat transfer, microwave treatment (MT) preserves nutritional quality and provides safe food. In this investigation, the effect of Microwave heating (MH) treatment was analysed on the bioactive components and quality characteristics of buransh (Rhododendron arboretum) flower squash. The fresh squash (TSS 19.6°Brix) was prepared by adjusting TSS to 3, 4, and 5°Brix by using RO water, and microwave treatment (MT) was given to the prepared squash as per the Box Behnken design (BBD). Process optimization was done using Design Expert 13 software. Microwave Power (MP), time, and total soluble solids (TSS) as process parameters showed significant (p < 0.05) effects on responses, namely pH, TSS, total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC). The optimized values at optimum process parameters (300 W, 30 s and 3°Brix) were found to be 3.79 for pH, 2.395°Brix for TSS, 44.28 mg GAE/100 mL for TPC and 132.159 mg QE/100 mL for TFC. The experimental values were found to be in accordance with the predicted values, having error (%) 0.5249, 3.96, 2.75, and 1.55 for pH, TSS, TPC, and TFC respectively. It was concluded that microwave heating can be used for the treatment of buransh (Rhododendron arboretum) flower squash with superior retention of nutritional quality.

The present study investigated the effect of independent variables, i.e., barley flour (30 to 50%), water content in liquid whey (83.3 to 93.3%), and dough resting time (90 to 150 min), on liquid whey incorporated wheat-barley buns (LWWBb). To optimize the independent variables, Response Surface Methodology using Box–Behnken design was applied, and their effect on the overall acceptability score, crude fat (g), total dietary fiber (g), firmness (g), and springiness (g) were observed. The optimized nutritious LWWBbwas obtained at barley flour (45.60%), water content in liquid whey (91.70%), and dough resting time (125 min). Comparative analysis of optimized LWWBb(O-LWWBb) and refined wheat flour bun (RWb) were done for physical and nutritional characteristics. The results of comparative analysis revealed that O-LWWBbhas 2.95 g/100 g, 51.51 mg/100 g, 158.39 mg/100 g, 1.95 mg/100 g, and 26.96% more fiber, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and antioxidant activity, respectively, as compared to RWb. The study discloses that highly nutritious buns can be developed successfully by utilizing liquid whey and wheat-barley flour.

The present investigation aimed to develop jamun pulp, jamun seed, mango kernel, and flax seed powder fortified low-fat functional cookies. A total of five formulations, including control (C, T1, T2, T3and T4) were prepared with varying amounts of jamun pulp, jamun seed, and mango kernel powder. The overall acceptability score was maximum for T1and minimum for C cookies. Total flavonoid content was maximum for T4(668.3 ± 4.8 mgQE/100 g) and least for T1(483.6 ± 5.6 mgQE/100 g), while the total phenolic content was highest for T4and T3(925.3 ± 8.8 mgGAE/100 g and 836.83 ± 3.47 mgGAE/100 g, respectively) and least for control cookies. Protein content (%) was highest for C and T1(17.5 ± 0.06 and 16.36 ± 0.056, respectively), while it was the least for T4(11.37 ± 0.032). Based on the proximate, sensory, and functional properties, it was concluded that fortified cookies T1were found to be the best among all the developed cookies.