A Review on Ag-Nanostructures for Enhancement in Shelf Time of Fruits

Security and safety of fresh produce has become global issue so the protection of fruits and vegetables should be the primary focus for agricultural industry. Shelf time of fresh produce can be influenced by many pre-harvest and post-harvest factors which should be controlled. Different post-harvest treatments such as physical, chemical and gaseous have been discussed here to maintain high safety standards of fresh produce. To overcome mishandlings by previously reported conventional methods, nanotechnology has emerged as a promising tool in the food processing industry, providing new insights about post-harvest technologies to overcome losses. This study also reveals that managing pre-harvest and post-harvest factors will lessen the deprivation of post-harvest standard features in fruits. Effect of silver nanoparticles on shelf life of fruits has been studied which indicates that shelf life of fruits increases when treated with nanomaterials as compared to chemical and other physical treatment which are used to reduce post-harvest losses.