Detection of Freshness and Other Quality Attributes of Horticultural Crops

Horticulture crops include a wide range of fruits and vegetables that are important for supplying the world’s food needs and for enhancing human health. The nutritional content, marketability, freshness, and overall sustainability of horticultural crops are directly affected by their quality and freshness. The term quality indicates the degree of excellence of a produce or its suitability for specific use. Quality-related characteristics are important for product utilization. The quality of produce includes sensory properties, nutritional content, chemical components, mechanical characteristics, functional attributes, and defects. Various instrument measurements are used for sensory evaluation in research and commercial studies, as they reduce errors among individuals and can provide accuracy to researchers, industry, and consumers. Innovative food packaging technology has been proven to improve the quality, safety, and sustainability of food. Recently, emerging food packaging technologies, such as antimicrobial packaging, nanotechnology, controlled-release packaging, biosensors, and radio frequency packaging identification (RFID), have attracted the attention of the food packaging industry. However, more research is necessary on nanomaterials and sustainable packaging materials used in the food sector to address health, safety, and environmental concerns.