Changes due to high oxygen and high carbon dioxide atmospheres on the general quality and the polyphenolic profile of strawberries

VAN DE VELDE, FRANCO; MÉNDEZ-GALARRAGA, MARÍA PAULA; GRACE, MARY H.; FENOGLIO, CECILIA; LILA, MARY ANN; PIROVANI, MARÍA ÉLIDA

POSTHARVEST BIOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2019 vol. 148 p. 49 - 57

0925-5214

The aim of this work was to study and model the effects of refrigerated storage with high O2 and high CO2 atmospheres (70 kPa O2 + 20 kPa CO2 and 90 kPa O2 + 10 kPa CO2) on microbial growth, general quality attributes, and the polyphenolic compound profile of fresh strawberries. The storage of samples in 70 kPa O2 + 20 kPa CO2 controlled microbiological decay and slightly affected soluble solids and pH values for 20 d at 5 °C. Moreover, vitamin C and proanthocyanidin contents of these samples were kept almost constant throughout the storage period. Samples in 90 kPa O2 + 10 kPa CO2 controlled microbiological decay for 12 d at 5 °C, soluble solids and pH values were slightly affected, and vitamin C and proanthocyanidin contents experienced up to 15% decrease during this period. However, anthocyanins underwent a substantial increase during the first 3?5 d of storage in these samples. The highest anthocyanin accumulations occurred for pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside, pelargonidin-3-O-rutinoside, and pelargonidin-3-O-acetylglucoside, which increased by 68%, 132%, and 167%, respectively over their initial values at 5 d. Thereafter, anthocyanins content decreased gradually or remained even higher than their initial values at 12 d. This behavior was associated with a physiological response to stress and was not seen for strawberries stored at 70 kPa O2 + 20 CO2, probably due to its higher CO2 concentration which was deleterious for anthocyanin stability. Flavonols, phenolic acids, and ellagitannins also experienced increases up to 130% at 5?12 d of storage in samples exposed to both atmospheres. The changes in general quality attributes were fitted with zero or first-order kinetics, and changes in individual phenolic compounds were adequately fitted with a consecutive reaction mechanism kinetic model.