Hot water treatments performed in the base of the broccoli stem reduce postharvest senescence of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. Var italic) heads stored at 20
C

PERINI, MAURO ALEJANDRO; SIN, IGNACIO NICOLAS; REYES JARA, ANDREA; GOMEZ LOBATO, MARÍA EUGENIA; CIVELLO, PEDRO MARCOS; MARTINEZ, GUSTAVO ADOLFO

LEBENSMITTEL-WISSENSCHAFT UND-TECHNOLOGIE-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2017 vol. 77 p. 314 - 322

0023-6438

Heat treatments cause a moderate and reversible stress that interrupts the normal metabolism (senescenceor fruit ripening) of the product. Although there is a large number of reports about heat treatmentson broccoli heads, the effect of subjecting only the stems to thermal treatments has not been studied yet.One of the main reasons to analyze this approach is that the hormone ethylene is actively produced inthe stem cutting area.Different hot water treatments were performed on the first 5 cm of broccoli stems with variouscombinations of time-temperature. Treatment carried out at 50 C for 3 min was chosen for furtheranalysis of different quality and senescence parameters, taking into account that broccoli heads presenteda delayed change in Hue and L values when compared with controls during storage. While controlheads looked yellow, heat-treated samples retained most of their green colour. Furthermore, controlheads presented higher weight loss, lower total and soluble protein, and lower total soluble sugar after 3or 5 storage days, giving evidence of the fact that a heat treatment just on the stem contributes to thedelay of broccoli senescence and to the maintenance of the overall quality of the product during storage.