About this Research Topic
Consumers are one of the main concerns of the food industry, as they are the always shifting their moods and consumption patterns. Thus, the industry must transform itself to always provide what the consumer needs. Today, consumer diets are well rooted in healthier diets, looking for natural, minimally processed foods, which should be as fresh as possible. The pinnacle of freshness are horticulture goods, which are highly perishable. Freshness, through consumers eyes is usually the visual appearance of the food, but it’s taste is ultimately what the consumer is buying it for. Postharvest handling and its duration play a crucial role on the freshness, quality and security of horticulture goods, provoking changes in the bioactive molecules that make up these foods. This Research Topic intends to understand the effects of postharvest on the secondary metabolism of those plants as well as trying to find new methods of improving postharvest to help the industry deliver fresher and higher quality horticulture products to consumers.
The time, distance and handling of fresh goods, namely horticulture products are three pillars for delivering quality food. Due to their perishability these goods should be quickly transported from production site to the shelves of stores, which is achieved if the distance between these two sites is short, but, in a demanding world where consumers expect to find fresh goods thousands of kilometers away from their production site, a challenge arises. Furthermore, most of these goods require refrigeration to retain their freshness, which is an extra burden. Thus, finding the changes in flavor, healthiness and specifically in individual molecules of these foods is crucial to understand the effects of postharvest handling and to improve it.
This Research Topic focuses on, but is not limited to:
- Postharvest research of horticulture goods
- Analytical analysis of secondary metabolism compounds
- Detection of bioactive molecules in horticulture
- Analytical chemistry
- Impacts of refrigeration
- Natural sanitizers for postharvest storage of fresh produce
- Shelf-life analysis
- Antioxidant activity of horticulture goods
- Nutritional analysis
- Antioxidants and antimicrobial molecules
- Flavor analysis
- Compared chemistry and biochemistry
The time, distance and handling of fresh goods, namely horticulture products are three pillars for delivering quality food. Due to their perishability these goods should be quickly transported from production site to the shelves of stores, which is achieved if the distance between these two sites is short, but, in a demanding world where consumers expect to find fresh goods thousands of kilometers away from their production site, a challenge arises. Furthermore, most of these goods require refrigeration to retain their freshness, which is an extra burden. Thus, finding the changes in flavor, healthiness and specifically in individual molecules of these foods is crucial to understand the effects of postharvest handling and to improve it.
This Research Topic focuses on, but is not limited to:
- Postharvest research of horticulture goods
- Analytical analysis of secondary metabolism compounds
- Detection of bioactive molecules in horticulture
- Analytical chemistry
- Impacts of refrigeration
- Natural sanitizers for postharvest storage of fresh produce
- Shelf-life analysis
- Antioxidant activity of horticulture goods
- Nutritional analysis
- Antioxidants and antimicrobial molecules
- Flavor analysis
- Compared chemistry and biochemistry
Keywords: Secondary metabolites, Post-harvest, Analytical chemistry, Polyphenols, Storage, Horticulture, Food chemistry
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
