STORAGE AND CONSERVATION OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES PRESERVED BY LOW TEMPERATURES IN PČINJA REGION, SERBIA

Low-temperature food treatments have been used for a long time in food technology, with an aim to preserve their durability. According to the authors of Sharma, Thakur & Maiti (2016) fruits and vegetables are considered as living entities even after harvesting, since respiration processes continue along with numerous metabolic processes at the cellular level. The ultimate quality of the product depends largely on all the metabolic processes that take place inside fruits and vegetables after harvesting.The use of low temperatures for conservation, as well as other processing techniques, can cause damage on fruits and vegetables (Jha & Jury, 2019) resulting texture changes and loss of firmness of the fruit. It is important to highlite the study of Bof, Fontana, Piemolini-Barreto and Sandri (2012) that encourages the use of frozen fruit pulps and jellies as sources of natural antioxidants. The authors point out that their use is more economical and efficient than use of artificial supplements in protection of the human body from oxidative stress.The modern way of producing and distributing fruits and vegetables highlites the importance of cold stores, as a place where it will be kept. Cold stores are used to preserve fruits and vegetables quality and to prolong their use. According to the Serbian Agricultural Inspectorate and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, there are sufficient storage capacities for domestic needs in Serbia, but they are unevenly distributed and focused on typically fruit-bearing regions (Grocka, Cacak, Smederevo, Subtica and Topola).There are several cold stores at the territory of the Pcinja District like "Nesa Komerc" and "Voce promet" in Vranje, "Sumsko blago" in Bresnica, "Bellus terra" in Katun, "Radulovic M&S" in Suvo Dol, "Hladnjaca DEJ ”in Ranutovac and others. The most commonly stored fruits are presented on the example of the „Dej“ cold stores in Ranutovac. Since Vranje has favorable pedological and climatic conditions, it is necessary to intensify the fruit growing, which will induce increament of having higher number and higher capacity of cold stores in the Pcinja district.