Biomarkers associated with quality and safety of fresh-cut produce

The overall quality and consumer acceptability of fresh fruits and vegetables depends extensively on their postharvest handling throughout the supply chain. Therefore, monitoring the postharvest chain to track internal molecular changes and associated chemical signatures is important for the quality assessment of fresh-cut produce. The metabolic activities of these perishable commodities continue even after harvest. Moreover, various biotic and abiotic stresses during the postharvest handling chain accelerate the metabolic rate and thus affect the quality attributes and microbial safety. Metabolomic approaches with advanced analytical techniques and modern data analyses have been applied to identify various biomarkers linked with different biological pathways. This review article examines some of the biochemical markers in fruits and vegetables with the use of high-end analytical techniques. The biomarker approach is anticipated to provide better and faster methods to assess fresh produce quality and safety.