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Advances in High-Quality or Value-Added Processing of Fruits and Vegetables—Second...
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Advances in High-Quality or Value-Added Processing of Fruits and Vegetables—Second Edition

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Product Quality and Safety".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2026) | Viewed by 7843

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jianle Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Agro-Food Processing, Fuli Institute of Food Science, Zhejiang R & D Center for Food Technology and Equipment, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: fruit and vegetables; clean processing; phytochemicals; polysaccharides
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Huan Cheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Intelligent Food Technology and Equipment, Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Agro-Food Processing, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: modem molecular sensing technology; flavor material analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fruits and vegetables are widely considered to be healthy foods, and their consumption in large quantities every day is encouraged by experts. As a result of the accelerated pace of life today, processed products and nutritional supplements from fruits and vegetables are becoming increasingly popular. Processing, however, is plagued by two main problems—food quality decrease and processing waste pollution with no value-added utilization. Food quality decrease is generally related to processing factors, raw food material properties, storage conditions, etc. Fruit and vegetable processing pollution is due to the various food wastes, such as peels, residues, seeds, leaves, processing water, etc., which can be developed into nutritional or useful byproducts to meet zero-waste and green process goals. Many studies have focused on these areas, producing useful information, but many aspects remain unsolved due to the vast variety of fruits and vegetables and the different processes for each.

This Special Issue is a continuation of the previous Special Issue. It still focuses on the quality promotion of fruits and vegetables after processing and the utilization of their byproducts to create a clean process. This Special Issue welcomes a broad range of studies related to fruit and vegetable characterization, processing, storage, quality, waste analysis, byproduct utilization, etc. Original research articles and reviews are accepted.

Dr. Jianle Chen
Dr. Huan Cheng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fruit and vegetables
  • process
  • storage
  • quality
  • waste
  • byproduct
  • function

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 2215 KB  
Article
Improving Dehydration Efficiency and Quality in Highbush Blueberries via Combined Pulsed Microwave Pretreatment and Osmotic Dehydration
by Shokoofeh Norouzi, Valérie Orsat and Marie-Josée Dumont
Agriculture 2025, 15(15), 1602; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15151602 - 25 Jul 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1608
Abstract
The impact of processing time, temperature, and sample on solution ratio parameters, along with pulsing microwave pretreatment, was assessed in the osmotic dehydration of waxy skin highbush blueberries. Fresh blueberries were pre-treated with 20% microwave power for 90 s before being subjected to [...] Read more.
The impact of processing time, temperature, and sample on solution ratio parameters, along with pulsing microwave pretreatment, was assessed in the osmotic dehydration of waxy skin highbush blueberries. Fresh blueberries were pre-treated with 20% microwave power for 90 s before being subjected to osmotic dehydration for 8 h in a 60 °Brix sucrose solution, with three different sample to solution ratios (1:4, 1:7, and 1:10). Changes in water loss, solid gain, total anthocyanin content, total phenolic content, and total soluble solid content during osmotic dehydration, as well as color and texture changes, were investigated at four temperature levels (room temperature, 60 °C, 65 °C, and 70 °C). The highest rate of reduction in the total soluble solid content in the osmotic solution was observed during the initial hours (0–4 h) of the process. The most effective combination for reducing the total soluble content of the osmotic agent involved the microwave-pretreatment of the blueberries at 70 °C, using a sample to solution ratio of 1:4, resulting in a decrease of 11.98%, compared to 7.83% for non-pretreated samples. The solid gain was found to be affected by the sample to solution ratio × temperature × pretreatment at a 1% probability level (p ≤ 0.01). The temperature, osmotic solution ratio, and microwave pretreatment interacted together to affect the quality parameters of the osmotically dehydrated blueberries, including total anthocyanin content, total phenolic content, and color. Higher temperatures, along with microwave pretreatment, showed the worst effects on the quality characteristics mentioned. Microwave pretreatment did not change the texture significantly in comparison with non-pretreated blueberry samples. The enhancing effect of microwave pretreatment and higher temperatures on the efficiency of the osmotic dehydration process was obvious. An optimized microwave pretreatment can reduce both the required processing time and temperature for the osmotic dehydration of waxy skinned blueberries, which in turn can lead to the higher quality preservation of processed blueberries and lower energy consumption. This could be especially useful for the large-scale processing of waxy skinned berries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in High-Quality or Value-Added Processing of Fruits and Vegetables—Second Edition)
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Review

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15 pages, 903 KB  
Review
From Waste to Growth: Utilizing Fruit and Vegetable By-Products in Seed Priming Treatments
by Monika Vidak, Dunja Blažević, Tomislav Javornik and Klaudija Carović-Stanko
Agriculture 2026, 16(9), 978; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture16090978 - 29 Apr 2026
Viewed by 436
Abstract
The increasing volume of plant waste generated by the agro-food industry presents significant environmental and economic challenges. This review synthesizes peer-reviewed literature on the valorization of fruit and vegetable by-products as seed priming agents, focusing on extraction approaches, bioactive compounds, physiological mechanisms, and [...] Read more.
The increasing volume of plant waste generated by the agro-food industry presents significant environmental and economic challenges. This review synthesizes peer-reviewed literature on the valorization of fruit and vegetable by-products as seed priming agents, focusing on extraction approaches, bioactive compounds, physiological mechanisms, and practical limitations. Seed priming with plant extracts derived from agro-food by-products has emerged as a sustainable approach to enhance seed germination, seedling vigour, and tolerance to abiotic stresses. Recent findings on the composition of bioactive compounds in plant waste, extraction techniques, and the physiological and biochemical effects of these extracts on seeds and seedlings are reviewed. Phenolics, flavonoids, and phytohormones present in these extracts activate antioxidant enzymes and promote secondary metabolite accumulation, mitigating oxidative damage and improving seedling performance. Critical analysis highlights the potential of plant-waste-based extracts for sustainable agriculture and identifies research gaps to optimize their practical application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in High-Quality or Value-Added Processing of Fruits and Vegetables—Second Edition)
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32 pages, 2723 KB  
Review
Nondestructive Quality Detection of Characteristic Fruits Based on Vis/NIR Spectroscopy: Principles, Systems, and Applications
by Chen Wang, Xiaonan Li, Zijuan Zhang, Xuan Luo, Jianrong Cai and Aichen Wang
Agriculture 2025, 15(20), 2167; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15202167 - 18 Oct 2025
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5207
Abstract
Nondestructive quality detection of characteristic fruits is essential for ensuring nutritional value, economic viability, and consumer safety in global supply chains, yet traditional destructive methods compromise sample integrity and scalability. Visible and near-infrared (Vis/NIR) spectroscopy offers a transformative solution by enabling rapid, non-invasive [...] Read more.
Nondestructive quality detection of characteristic fruits is essential for ensuring nutritional value, economic viability, and consumer safety in global supply chains, yet traditional destructive methods compromise sample integrity and scalability. Visible and near-infrared (Vis/NIR) spectroscopy offers a transformative solution by enabling rapid, non-invasive multi-attribute quantification through molecular overtone vibrations. This review examines recent advancements in Vis/NIR-based fruit quality detection, encompassing fundamental principles, system configurations, and detection strategies calibrated to fruit biophysical properties. Firstly, optical mechanisms and system architectures (portable, online, vehicle-mounted) are compared, emphasizing their compatibility with fruit structural complexity. Then, critical challenges arising from fruit-specific characteristics—such as rind thickness, pit interference, and spatial heterogeneity—are analyzed, highlighting their impact on spectral accuracy. Applications across diverse fruit categories (pitted, thin-rinded, and thick-rinded) are systematically reviewed, with case studies demonstrating the robust prediction of key quality indices. Subsequently, considerations in model development and validation are presented. Finally, persistent limitations in model transferability and environmental adaptability are discussed, proposing future research directions centered on integrating hyperspectral imaging, AI-driven calibration transfer, standardized spectral databases, and miniaturized, field-deployable sensors. Collectively, these methodological breakthroughs will pave the way for autonomous, next-generation quality assessment platforms, revolutionizing postharvest management for characteristic fruits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in High-Quality or Value-Added Processing of Fruits and Vegetables—Second Edition)
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