Shows the use of nonthermal technologies for improving quality and safety of fruits and vegetables, such as microwave, ultrasound, gamma irradiation, pulsed light, hurdle technology. Also looks at preservation strategies (osmotic dehydration, ultrasound- and ultrasound-assisted osmotic dehydration, nanoemulsions, engineered nanomaterials).

PART I: NONTHERMAL METHODS FOR QUALITY AND SAFETY OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 1. Quality and Safety of Fresh Produce During Storage: Hurdle Technology 2. Microwave Technology: Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables 3. Role of Gamma Irradiation in the Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables 4. Scope of Novel Pulsed Light Technology: Safety and Shelf-Life of Minimally Processed Fruits and Vegetables 5. Sanitizers for Decontamination of Fresh Produce: Alternative to Chlorine PART II: PRESERVATION STRATEGIES FOR FRESH PRODUCE 6. Preservation Strategies for Fruits and Vegetables: Past, Present, and Future Scope 7. Osmotic Dehydration Technology for Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables 8. Scope of Ultrasound Technology for Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables 9. Scope of Nanoemulsions for Quality and Safety of Fruits and Vegetables: Nanotechnology and Essential Oils 10. Engineered Nanomaterials for Food Preservation and Packaging: Focus on Antimicrobial and Antibiofilm Activities PART III: ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 11. Nondestructive Methods for Quality Assessment of Fruits and Vegetables during Storage12. Mechanical, Optical, and Acoustic Methods: Noninvasive Quality Assessment of Fruits and Vegetables PART IV: POTENTIAL USE OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE WASTE 13. Fruit and Vegetable Waste: A Viable Feedstock for Bioenergy 14. Potential of Fruit and Vegetable Waste: Treatment of Wastewater

Megh R. Goyal, PhD, PE, is a Retired Professor in Agricultural and Biomedical Engineering from the General Engineering Department in the College of Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Campus. He has worked as a Soil Conservation Inspector and as a Research Assistant at Haryana Agricultural University and Ohio State University. He was the first agricultural engineer to receive the professional license in Agricultural Engineering from the College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico.

Faizan Ahmad, MTech, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology in the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at Aligarh Muslim University, in Uttar Pradesh, India. He has more than seven years of teaching and research experience. His major area of research includes food preservation, extraction of bioactive compounds from agricultural waste, food processing, food engineering, etc. Presently he is working in food preservation using ultrasound as a pre-treatment, as well as in quality assessment of fruits and vegetables during storage and drying. Recently he designed a fully automatic vacuum dryer with a data recorder for effective and economic drying of fruits and vegetables, and the same has been published by the patent office of the Government of India. He has published more than 10 research papers in peer-reviewed international and national journals and more than seven book chapters with various publishers, such as Elsevier, Springer, CRC Press. etc. He has presented his work at several international and national conferences and has attended more than 35 seminars, conferences, workshops, short-term courses, and faculty development program. He has successfully guided five MTech students for their dissertation work and is presently supervising one more. He has also delivered lectures as a resource person at the Institute of Food Technology, Budelkhand University, Jhansi, India. He is a life member of the Indian Society of Technical Education (ISTE). He received his BTech degree in Chemical Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, and his MTech degree in Chemical Engineering (Process Modeling and Simulation) from Department of Chemical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India.