Cutting-edge physical techniques in postharvest for fruits and vegetables: Unveiling their power, inclusion in ‘hurdle’ approach, and latest applications

Minimal processing and postharvest technologies are crucial for promoting the consumption of fruit/vegetables but can have detrimental effects on the quality of fresh produce, encouraging faster deteriorative modification. Innovative approaches are finalized to reduce nutrient losses, increasing consumer acceptability while guaranteeing minimal environmental impact. Recent evolution of physical approaches aims at reducing side effects and water consumption in fresh and minimally processed fruit and vegetables, acting as an alternative to the use of high-temperature or synthetic compounds. Emerging physical technologies such as vacuum cooling and hydrocooling, microwave heating, pulsed electric field, cold plasma, and high hydrostatic pressure have been studied to reduce microbial load and spoilage phenomena while maintaining fresh-like characteristics and nutritive active compounds in fruits and vegetables postharvest. The effect of each treatment, focusing on the variability of the matrices, and the combination of more treatments in a hurdle technology approach, on the quality and safety of final products is reported. This review aims to represent a comprehensive collection of the emerging and most important physical technologies that have been applied to fresh and minimally processed horticultural products during the last years, focusing, for each processing, on its mode of action and practical application on the different categories of horticultural products. The study highlights the effectiveness of these treatments in improving safety while preserving freshness and quality products, providing an overview of their key advantages and disadvantages. A selection of case studies i) supports information on the diversity of treatments with respect to the variability of matrices and ii) illustrates the application of physical solutions in the framework of hurdle technology approaches to enhance synergistic effects by combining multiple techniques. Future challenges to optimise final product quality standards by adopting cost-effective methods are also discussed.