Development of fresh cut fruits and vegetable washing machine using micro-nano bubbles combined with advanced oxidation process.

Fresh-cut of fruit and vegetable have becomes a popular products for consumers who demand healthy alternatives to conventional snack foods. The production and consumption of fresh-cut of fruit and vegetable items is projected to continue growing as more consumers demand fresh, convenient and nutritious foods.  In commercial, producer industry have to consider two important challenges to the quality and safety of fresh-cut products, especially control of contaminated microorganisms. In fresh-cut process, sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) solution is the most common method used for wash and preventing contaminated of food born bacteria. However, some organic compounds can react with available chlorine to form toxic chlorinated products. In additions, preparing fresh-cut produce entails wounding that induces the synthesis of enzymes of the phenylpropanoid pathway, the subsequent synthesis and accumulation of phenolic compounds, and tissue browning that reduces quality. A wound signal appears to form at the site of mechanical injury (i.e. cuts, punctures, and abrasions) those limited the quality and shelf life. Thus, the effective and safety methods must be developed to control the growth of spoilage microorganisms and pathogens if contaminated. In this research, we are interesting in micro-nano bubbles (MNBs) technology uncombine with Advanced oxidation process (AOPs) applied for postharvest. MNBs are classified as a green technology with environmental friendly and safe for consumers. Thus, this research aim to study a possibility of using various kind of MNBs to inhibit the total bacteria and improve the quality of fresh-cut lettuce. This research provide a basic knowledge that can apply for agricultural and food industry of Thailand.