Improved preservation process for table grapes cleaner production in cold chain

Abstract

Toxic and hazardous sulfur dioxide (SO2) residue reduction is not only one of the core issues in the preservation process with SO2 solid antistaling agents in actual table grapes cold chain, but also one of the important ways to improve the cleaner production efficiency of the table grapes. The aim of this paper is to propose an improved preservation process for the table grapes in cold chain by combining the fumigation treatment with the slow-release SO2 solid antistaling agent. The process was performed to reduce the toxic and hazardous SO2 residue of the table grapes, improve the cleaner production efficiency of the cold chain, guarantee the quality and safety of the table grapes, and finally enhance the human health. The slow-release SO2 solid antistaling agent was developed with no pricking holes and relatively stable release rate of the SO2. According to the comprehensive analysis of the fumigation treatment condition determination, the slow-release SO2 solid antistaling agent performance, the table grapes quality performance, the SO2 residue performance and the evaluation on improved preservation process, the proposed improved preservation process with SO2 residue reduction could effectively reduce the bleaching injury, the decay rate, the threshing rate and the toxic and hazardous SO2 residue of the table grapes. There was no bleaching injury after the fumigation treatment at the optimal fumigation treatment conditions with 5000 ppm fumigation concentration and 20 min fumigation time. The maximization reduction range of the average decay rate and the average threshing rate of the table grapes was about 91.3% and 44.8%, while the maximization reduction range of the average SO2 residue in table grapes peels was about 44.7%. The proposed improved preservation process could be extended for other cold chain applications to reduce their SO2 residue and improve their cleaner production efficiency.