Radiation processing of fruits: application to strawberries and prunes

Extending the shelf-life of fresh fruit by means of low-dose irradiation (radurization) is not a new idea: experiments in that field started in the early sixties. These experiments have actually proved that, in some cases, irradiation can achieve shelf-life extension, either through a delay in ripening (bananas), or through rot inhibition (soft cherries, apricots, tomatoes, strawberries). Alas, they have also highlighted the intolerance showed by a number of fruits when radurized: irradiation is apt to have them ripen more rapidly (peaches, nectarines) or to soften them too much (pears, table grapes, oranges, apples, plums, grapefruit, melons, honeydew melons). Even in those cases where irradiation results in a benefit, this benefit varies depending on the variety of fruit involved, as can be seen from a deep survey of the irradiation of strawberries. Preservation of dehydrated fruit is a different matter. Prunes, for instance, would be contamined by molds, wasn't it for the addition of sorbic acid during the fabrication process. Ionization of prunes can allow producers to avoid the use of a chemical, and to keep the prunes at a greater degree of humidity