Role of Ozone in Post-Harvest Disinfection and Processing of Horticultural Crops: A Review

Consumers' awareness toward nutritionally superior foods and improved knowledge of human health have enhanced the inclusion of fruits and vegetables as an integral part of regular dietary intake. However, concerns regarding the safety and quality of foods especially with reference to the outbreak of foodborne illnesses cause a major complication in the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Other major concerns, besides the safety of food from foodborne pathogens, include spoilage due to microbes and chemical pesticide residues. Traditionally, fresh fruits and vegetables are sanitized using chemicals, viz., chlorine, peracetic acid, electrolyzed water, hydrogen peroxide, etc. All these chemicals have been proven to exhibit ill effects over the consumers and the environment over a period of time, and thus, there is a great need for a safe alternative technique, which is eco-friendly and sustainable industrially. Ozone treatment is one such green technology available with multiple benefits such as antimicrobial nature, shelf life extension, pesticide residue removal, starch modification, waste water treatment, and many other industrial applications. It was also approved by FDA as a Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) sanitizer because of its eco-friendly nature (degradation into nonharmful oxygen after a short half-life) in addition to its inherent antimicrobial and antiethylene activity. This review focouses on ozone, its mode of action, and its applications in different horticultural crops with potential industrial use.