Abstract: Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables are highly favored by consumers due to their convenience and cleanliness, which have significant development potential as a new consumption format for fruits and vegetables. The cut surface of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables is prone to browning during storage and sale, which significantly affects the marketability and shelf life, thereby hindering the development of the fresh-cut product industry. Elucidating the mechanism underlying browning in fresh-cut fruits and vegetables and summarizing recent progress in the development of browning prevention technologies could provide valuable insights for the development of new, safe, and efficient anti-browning techniques. This article provides a systematic review of the mechanism underlying browning in fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, along with the state-of-the art development of anti-browning technologies, from the perspectives of browning types, influencing factors, and preventive strategies. In addition, this review highlights the potential roles of reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism and membrane lipid metabolism in the browning process of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, aiming to offer references for browning prevention in fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, thereby reducing economic losses in the fresh-cut fruit and vegetable industry.

Key words: fresh-cut fruit and vegetable; cut surface browning; polyphenol oxidase; membrane lipid metabolism; anti-browning technologies