CIDCA   05380
CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION Y DESARROLLO EN CRIOTECNOLOGIA DE ALIMENTOS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Low irradiance pulses improve postharvest quality of spinach leaves
Autor/es:
GERGOFF GROZEFF, G.E.; CHAVES ALICIA R.; BARTOLI, CARLOS
Revista:
POSTHARVEST BIOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Editorial:
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Referencias:
Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2012
ISSN:
0925-5214
Resumen:
The aim of this work is to extend and improve the postharvest life of mature spinach leaves using clean
technologies like the use of short pulses of light at low irradiance. After harvest spinach leaves were
immediately sealed in polyethylene bags in the laboratory. These bags were placed in a dark chamber
at 23 ◦C under continuous dark or with the application of light pulses (LPs) consisting of 15 min each
2?6 h or 7 min each 2 h for 3 d. The chosen irradiance, 30 _mol−1m−2 s−1 PPFD, corresponded to the light
compensation point previously measured in spinach plants under greenhouse conditions. After the leaves
were treated with LP for 3 d, all the samples were transferred to a chamber at 4 ◦C under continuous dark
for another week. Senescence was triggered in leaves under continuous dark after 3 d of storage and
delayed in those receiving LP. In addition ascorbic acid and glutathione contents were kept higher in
LP-treated than in untreated spinach. These trends were conserved after storage under continuous dark
and refrigeration for another week. When LP was applied in combination with 1-MCP the antioxidant
capacity was further improved. These results demonstrate that short LP of low irradiance can be used to
extend and to improve postharvest life of mature spinach leaves.