Tropical fruits: A story of colour Maysoun A. Mustafa, Asgar Ali, Graham Seymour, Gregory Tucker

Centre of Excellence for Postharvest Biotechnology, School of Biosciences, The University of Nottingham

The hero in the story ● Almost one third of cancer cases and one half of heart diseases

are believed to be diet related ● Fruits are packed with benefits from anti-aging to improving

heart health, a number of which are attributed to phytochemicals:

LYCOPENE: anticancer, antibacterial, antioxidant and antitoxic Β-CAROTENE: anticancer, heart health, skin protection and

bone health ANTHOCYANINS: anticancer, anti-inflammatory and heart

health LUTEIN: eye protection, heart health and skin protection XANTHONES: anticancer, antioxidant, anti-allergic and

antibacterial

The climax of the story Postharvest losses are the food losses that occur during the delivery of food from the farm to consumers

Tropical fruits are often grown sporadically and their distribution is mismanaged resulting in losses Fruit losses occur in terms of both quantity and quality (phytochemical content)

Quantitative losses are estimated at 20 – 50% of produced food

Happy Ending? ● A number of tools have been successfully developed to

preserve the freshness and limit microbial infection on fruits. Examples include:

CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE: moderating the levels of atmospheric gases

EDIBLE COATING: an edible material applied directly on the fruit

REFRIGERATION: cold storage of fruits is an old practice that never grows old

OZONE TREATMENT: use of ionizing radiation to sanitize fruit

● These tools prolong the shelf-life of a range of fruits, However the phytochemical content of fruits is rather unstable and deteriorates rapidly during storage.

References 1. Rosa, L.A., Alvarez-Parilla, E. & Gonzalez-Aguilar, G.A. (Eds.) (2010). Fruit and Vegetable Phytochemicals:

Chemistry, Nutritional Value and Stability. Iowa : Wiley-Blackwell 2. Gonzalez-Aguilar, G.A., Villa-Rodriguez, J.A., Ayala-Zavala, J.F. & Yahia, E.M. (2010). Improvement of the

antioxidant status of tropical fruits as a secondary reponse to some postharvest treatments. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 21: 475 - 482

3. Patil, B.S., Jayaprakasha, G.K., Murthy, K.N.C. & Vikram, A. (2009). Bioactive Compounds: Historical Perspectives, Opportunities, and Challenges. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 57: 8142–8160

The story is global • There is increasing concern that people are overfed

but undernourished • Tropical fruits are being recognized for their health

benefits and their consumption is expanding globally • However, they are highly susceptible to damage

during distribution • Hence, the need for postharvest tools capable of

maintaining the quality as well as enhancing the phytochemical content of fruits

Setting the scene ● Tropical fruits have a beautiful assortment of colours ● These colours are due to the presence of various pigments

known as phytochemicals ● More than 2000 phytochemicals are found in plants, to

name a few:

Red in

tomatoes is lycopene

Purple in dragonfruit

is anthocyanin

Orange in papaya

is β-carotene

Green in kiwi and star fruit

is lutein

White in mangosteen is xanthones

Fruit from farm 100%

Fruit reaching consumers

49 - 82%

Food losses during the postharvest chain of food delivery

Selection & Packaging Transportation Storage

Processing & Handling Distribution

Mechanical and

Physiological damage

4 – 8%

Poor infrastructure

and coordination

1 - 4%

Pests, microbial

infection and overripening

4 – 8%

Excessive peeling,

trimming and polishing

2 – 10%

Unsafe food due to

inefficient handling

2 – 8%