Editorial: Recent Applications of Ozone in Agri-Food Industry

Abstract

Ozone is an advanced oxidation technology having multi-dimensional applications in the food industry such as antibacterial and antiviral action on fresh horticultural produce and minimally processed fruits and vegetables, stored product insects control, mycotoxin degradation in grains, pesticide degradation from fresh produce and starch modification. The thermal and chemical techniques used for the above-mentioned applications having negative impact on the product quality. In this context, the consumers and food researchers are using ozone as an alternative non-thermal technique to conventional food processing methods. Recently, many industries have developed the small scale ozone based sanitization system to clean fruits, vegetables, cereals and meat based products for household purpose. This shows that the practical application of the ozone extended after the COVID 19 pandemic.