Improvement of the antioxidant properties and postharvest life of three exotic Andean fruits by UV-C treatment

ANDRADE-CUVI, M.J.; MORENO-GUERRERO, C.; ZARO, M.J.; VICENTE, A.R.; CONCELLON, A.

JOURNAL OF FOOD QUALITY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2017 vol. 2017 p. 1 - 10

0146-9428

Three Andean fruits naranjilla (Solanum quitoense Lam.), uvilla (Physalis peruviana L.) and mortiño (Vaccinium floribundum Kunth) were subjected to pre-storage UV-C treatments (0, 8 or 12.5 kJ m-2) and weekly evaluated to select the most suitable dose for fruit quality maintenance during storage (21 days at 6 °C). The highest dose retains quality through lower deterioration index for all three fruits and was selected to further analyze the effects on physicochemical and antioxidant properties during storage. UV-C exposure delayed softening in naranjilla and increased soluble solid content in uvilla. UV-C also improved the maintenance of antioxidant capacity (AC) in mortiño and uvilla. Overall, results indicate that short prestorage UV-C exposure may be an effective non-chemical approach to supplement low temperature storage, maintain quality and extend the postharvest life of Andean naranjilla, uvilla and mortiño fruit.