Potential use of UVC light for increasing nutraceutical quality in fresh-cut carrots of different root colors

VALERGA, L.; GONZALEZ, R. E.; CONCELLON, A.; CAVAGNARO, P. F.

ACTA HORTICULTURAE

International Society for Horticultural Science

Lugar: Leuven; Año: 2024 vol. 1393 p. 147 - 152

0567-7572

Because fresh-cut vegetable products (i.e., fresh vegetables that have been processed by cutting or shredding) are more perishable than unprocessed vegetables, the development of postharvest technologies that increase shelf-life and nutritional quality of the former is of great interest. In recent years, the use of UVC light in combination with fresh-cut processing (FCP) has been shown to increase both postharvest conservation (due to the germicidal effect of UVC) and nutritional quality, particularly by means of increasing phenolic concentration and antioxidant capacity (AOX), in various vegetables. For carrot, increases of up to several fold in phenolics concentrations and AOX have been reported. However, the extent of such effects varies widely depending on various factors, including the degree of processing, the dose of the UVC light applied, the conservation conditions used after the UVC treatment, the root color phenotype, and the cultivar. In addition, some root phenotypes seem to be more susceptible to tissue browning, after such stressors – UVC and FCP – were applied. This paper discusses recent results, by our group and others, on the potential of UVC light for increasing nutraceutical value in fresh-cut carrots, considering the above factors which influence the effectiveness of this technology.