Submit to Foods Review for Foods Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Microbiological Safety Control of Postharvest Fruits and Vegetables

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Foods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 16892

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Hongyin Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Interests: biological control of postharvest diseases of fruits and vegetables; biodegradation of mycotoxins; postharvest plant pathology

Prof. Dr. Xingfeng Shao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

College of Food and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ningbo University, 169 Qixingnan Road, Ningbo 315800, China
Interests: biological control of postharvest diseases of fruits; postharvest senescence and disorder of fruits
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Kaifang Zeng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Food Science College, Southwest University, Tiansheng Road 2#, Beibei, Chongqing 400715, China
Interests: biological control of postharvest diseases of fruits and vegetables; postharvest plant pathology; quality control of fresh fruits and vegetables

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fruits and vegetables are highly perishable foods. Recent global statistics indicate that approximately 25% of fruits and vegetables are lost each year, mainly due to microbial infections at the postharvest stage. Uncontrolled microbial development can lead to quality deterioration and poisoning (mycotoxin and bacterial toxins) of many fruits and vegetables. The use of pesticides and various chemical compounds for the preservation of fruits and vegetables has raised growing concerns about environmental and health issues and a call for new alternatives. Now more than ever, effective and accurate strategies are needed to promote food safety. Recent advances in biotechnology have revolutionized the understanding of microorganisms and provided promising microbial tools.

Therefore, we invite and welcome submissions of original research papers as well as review articles that address the control of postharvest diseases of fruits and vegetables through the development of innovative microbial biocontrol strategies and microbial antifungal molecule approaches, addressing the growing risk of mycotoxin contamination and discussing relevant scientific issues, such as the microbiome paradigm in biocontrol strategies, the biocontrol agents in practical use, and the preservation of fruit and vegetable quality at the postharvest stage.

Prof. Dr. Hongyin Zhang
Prof. Dr. Xingfeng Shao
Prof. Dr. Kaifang Zeng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

fruit and vegetable safety
biocontrol strategies
microbial antagonists
fruit and vegetable decays
microbial interaction
antifungal microbial molecules
pathogenic fungi
mycotoxins and bacterial toxins
postharvest quality

Published Papers (6 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

16 pages, 3266 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Inducing Effect of Bacillus siamensis on Disease Resistance in Postharvest Mango Fruit

by Zecheng Jiang, Rui Li, Yue Tang, Ziyu Cheng, Minjie Qian, Wen Li and Yuanzhi Shao

Foods 2022, 11(1), 107; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods11010107 - 01 Jan 2022

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3165

Abstract

Postharvest anthracnose, caused by the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, is one of the most important postharvest diseases of mangoes worldwide. Bacillus siamensis (B. siamensis), as a biocontrol bacteria, has significant effects on inhibiting disease and improving the quality of fruits and vegetables. In this study, pre-storage application of B. siamensis significantly induced disease resistance and decreased disease index (DI) of stored mango fruit. To investigate the induction mechanisms of B. siamensis, comparative transcriptome analysis of mango fruit samples during the storage were established. In total, 234,808 unique transcripts were assembled and 56,704 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by comparative transcriptome analysis. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis of DEGs showed that most of the DEGs involved in plant-pathogen interaction, plant hormone signal transduction, and biosynthesis of resistant substances were enriched. Fourteen DEGs related to disease-resistance were validated by qRT-PCR, which well corresponded to the FPKM value obtained from the transcriptome data. These results indicate that B. siamensis treatment may act to induce disease resistance of mango fruit by affecting multiple pathways. These findings not only reveal the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that govern postharvest disease, but also develop a biological strategy to maintain quality of post-harvest mango fruit. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiological Safety Control of Postharvest Fruits and Vegetables)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 2292 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Garbage Enzyme with Chinese Hoenylocust Fruits Showed Better Properties and Application than When Using the Garbage Enzyme Alone

by Sitong Gu, Dongying Xu, Fuhui Zhou, Chen Chen, Chenghui Liu, Mixia Tian and Aili Jiang

Foods 2021, 10(11), 2656; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10112656 - 02 Nov 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3310

Abstract

Garbage enzyme (GE) is a vinegar or alcohol product derived from fermenting fresh kitchen waste, such as vegetable and fruit residues (peels, cuttings and bits), sugar (brown sugar, jaggery or molasses sugar) and water. Chinese honeylocust fruits (Gleditsia sinensis) have been used in China for at least 2000 years as a detergent. The aim of the study was to investigate the properties and application of Chinese honeylocust garbage enzyme (CHGE), which is produced when equal amounts of Chinese honeylocust fruits and fresh wastes are mixed. The results showed that CHGE had lesser microbial communities and lower surface tension than GE. CHGE also had higher viscosity, foam stability and emulsion stability than GE. Compared with GE, CHGE induced higher enzymatic amylase, cellulase, lipase and protease activities. CHGE had stronger detergency than GE and a 100× dilution of CHGE could significantly remove pesticide residues after a 30 min soaking treatment. The study showed that as a biological detergent, CHGE is safer and more environmentally friendly than GE and has remarkable washing and cleaning power. The preparation method of the detergent is simple: it can be prepared at home using fruit and vegetable waste, which is beneficial to the secondary utilization of waste and the reduction of pollution to the environment and damage to human health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiological Safety Control of Postharvest Fruits and Vegetables)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 2259 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Antifungal Activities and Mode of Action of Cymbopogon citratus, Thymus vulgraris, and Origanum heracleoticum Essential Oil Vapors against Botrytis cinerea and Their Potential Application to Control Postharvest Strawberry Gray Mold

by Jiaqi Yan, Hua Wu, Keying Chen, Jiajun Feng and Yansong Zhang

Foods 2021, 10(10), 2451; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10102451 - 15 Oct 2021

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2470

Abstract

Gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea is one of the most destructive postharvest decay of strawberry fruit. The present study aims to identify essential oils with antifungal activity against B. cinerea and the underlying mechanisms and their potential application in controlling postharvest decay. In the screening test, essential oils from Cymbopogon citratus (Cc), Thymus vulgraris (Tv), and Origanum heracleoticum (Oh) exhibited maximum inhibition of B. cinerea mycelial growth. The three essential oils altered the hyphal morphology and ultrastructure and resulted in many blebs around the hyphae. The essential oils damaged the plasma membrane of B. cinerea cells and resulted in the leakage of intercellular nucleic acids, proteins and soluble sugars. The exposure of strawberries to the vapors of these three essential oils in commercial package reduced gray mold, with Tv and Oh exhibiting strong efficiency and disease index reduction by 53.85% and 57.69%, respectively. Oh also inhibited postharvest decay and maintained fruit quality, preventing weight loss and soluble solid degradation. The study proposes using plant essential oils as an alternative to chemical fungicides in controlling the gray mold of strawberries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiological Safety Control of Postharvest Fruits and Vegetables)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 2872 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Interaction of Antimicrobial Peptide Ponericin W1, Thanatin, and Mastatopara-S with Geotrichum citri-aurantii Genomic DNA

by Hongyan Zhang, Sha Liu, Xindan Li, Wenjun Wang, Lili Deng and Kaifang Zeng

Foods 2021, 10(8), 1919; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10081919 - 18 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1952

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides of mastatopara-S (M-S), thanatin, and ponericin W1(P W1) were able to disrupt the membrane integrity and alter the morphology of the hyphae of Geotrichum citri-aurantii and then reduced the sour rot of citrus fruit. In order to understand the mechanisms of thanatin, P W1 and M-S other than membrane disruption, the interaction betwixt the peptides and G. citri-aurantii DNA were investigated in this research. The laser confocal microscopy found that P W1, thanatin, and M-S could penetrate the cell membrane. Gel retardation assay demonstrated that P W1, thanatin, and M-S could bind to the G. citri-aurantii genomic DNA in vitro. UV-visible spectra and fluorescence spectra analysis further confirmed that the peptides can bind to the DNA, and then insert into the base pairs in the DNA helix, followed by wrecking the double-helix structure. In addition, M-S, thanatin, and P W1 can suppress the synthesis of DNA and RNA of G. citri-aurantii. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiological Safety Control of Postharvest Fruits and Vegetables)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

16 pages, 11476 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Transcriptome Characterization and Expression Profiles of Disease Defense-Related Genes of Table Grapes in Response to Pichia anomala Induced with Chitosan

by Wanying Hu, Esa Abiso Godana, Meiqiu Xu, Qiya Yang, Solairaj Dhanasekaran and Hongyin Zhang

Foods 2021, 10(7), 1451; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10071451 - 22 Jun 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2064

Abstract

Transcriptome analysis (TA) was conducted to characterize the transcriptome changes in postharvest disease-related genes of table grapes following treatment with Pichia anomala induced with chitosan (1% w/v). In the current study, the difference in the gene expression of table grapes after treatment with P. anomala induced with chitosan and that of a control group was compared 72 h post-inoculation. The study revealed that postharvest treatment of table grapes with P. anomala induced with chitosan could up-regulate genes that have a pivotal role in the fruit’s disease defense. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) results also confirmed that GO terms and the KEGG pathways, which have pivotal roles in plant disease resistance, were significantly enriched. The up-regulated genes of the treatment group have a unique function in the fruit’s disease resistance compared to the control group. Generally, most genes in the plant–pathogen interaction pathway; the plant Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway; the plant hormone signal transduction pathway; the pathway of glutathione metabolism; the pathway of phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan biosynthesis; and the pathway of flavonoid biosynthesis were all up-regulated. These up-regulations help the fruit to synthesize disease-resistant substances, regulate the reactive oxygen species (ROS), enhance the fruit cell wall, and enrich hormone signal transduction during the pathogen’s attack. This study is useful to overcome the lags in applying transcriptomics technology in postharvest pathology, and will provide insight towards developing other alternative methods to using bio-pesticides to control postharvest diseases of perishables. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiological Safety Control of Postharvest Fruits and Vegetables)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

13 pages, 1774 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Candida Oleophila Proliferated and Accelerated Accumulation of Suberin Poly Phenolic and Lignin at Wound Sites of Potato Tubers

by Xiaoyuan Zheng, Hong Jiang, Esrat Mahmud Silvy, Shijia Zhao, Xiuwei Chai, Bin Wang, Zhicheng Li, Yang Bi and Dov Prusky

Foods 2021, 10(6), 1286; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10061286 - 04 Jun 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2296

Abstract

Candida oleophila is a type of biocontrol yeast offering effective postharvest disease control. To the best of our knowledge, the effect of C. oleophila upon the healing of tubers is yet to be studied. The present study addresses the existing knowledge gap by investigating the effect of C. oleophila on wound healing in potato tubers. The results show that C. oleophila colonized and proliferated at the wound sites during the early and intermediate stages of healing. In addition, C. oleophila reduced weight loss of wounded tubers, decreased disease index of inoculated tubers with Fusarium sulphureum, and accelerated accumulation of suberin poly phenolic (SPP) and lignin at wound sites. C. oleophila activated phenylpropanoid metabolism and increased the content of SPP monomers, total phenol, flavonoids, and lignin. Furthermore, the yeast increased H₂O₂ content as well as peroxidase activity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiological Safety Control of Postharvest Fruits and Vegetables)

► Show Figures