Impact of pulsed light treatments on antioxidant characteristics and quality attributes of fresh-cut apples

KARINA R. AVALOS LLANO; ANGEL R. MARSELLÉS-FONTANET; OLGA MARTÍ-BELLOSO; ROBERT SOLIVA-FORTUNY

INNOVATIVE FOOD SCIENCE & EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016 vol. 33 p. 206 - 215

1466-8564

The effects of pulsed light (PL) treatments combined with a quality-stabilizing dip on the quality and antioxidantattributes of fresh-cut ?Golden delicious? appleswas studied. Applewedgeswere dipped into a solution of 1% w/vN-acetylcysteine and 0.5% w/v CaCl2 and flashed with broad-spectrum light with an overall radiant exposureof 4, 8, 12 and 16 J.cm−2. General microbial counts, colour, firmness, phenolic compounds and vitamin C contentswere evaluated over 15 days at 5 °C. More pronounced reductions of the naturally-occurring microbiota were observedas the applied PL-dose increased. The quality-stabilizing pre-treatment effectively prevented browningphenomena on the cut-tissue surface. In addition, browning and oxidation were not promoted in PL flashedsamples. Indeed, the initial contents in phenolic compounds and vitamin C were even better maintained thanin untreated samples. Treatments of 8 and 16 J cm−2 were most effective for maintaining the quality and antioxidantcharacteristics.