Sanitizing fruit and vegetables with gaseous ozone promotes food safety, marketability, and extended postharvest shelf-life. Ozone is a self-decomposing gas that disinfects and neutralizes microorganisms on packing equipment, water, and produce surfaces. The USDA permits ozone use in "organic" products. Ozone is produced on-site through a corona discharge mechanism using commercially gaseous ozone generators. This study studied gaseous ozone application on peaches, ranging from 0.5 - 5 ppm compared to control storage (CS). Gaseous ozone applications are known for postharvest spoilage vulnerability to assess microbial load reduction and defense against diseases like brown rot and gray mold. Investigated varieties (July Prince, Scarlet Prince, August Lady, and O’Henry), stored under controlled conditions of 35°F (1.7°C) at 90% relative humidity, revealed that 5 ppm ozone resulted in high decay (~40-42%). However, 0.5 ppm treatment maintained peach quality comparable to controls, with decay rates between 3.5 to 7%. Notably, peaches treated with 0.5 ppm also exhibited higher firmness than the other treatments and unaffected visual quality up to the 28th storage day. The findings suggest ozone’s potential to enhance postharvest practices, highlighting its efficiency, and could serve as an effective counteract treatment for decay incidence that will benefit the peach industry.
