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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Sustainable Food Processing
Volume 8 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1468986

Pre-harvest culture systems and postharvest factors synergistically improved the antioxidant property of minimally processed corn salad (vValerianella olitoria L.) during cold storage

Provisionally accepted
Lijuan Zhan Lijuan Zhan 1Yamin Fan Yamin Fan 1Emamuela Fantana Emamuela Fantana 2Giorgio Tibaldi Giorgio Tibaldi 2Silvana Nicola Silvana Nicola 2*
  • 1 Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
  • 2 University of Turin, Turin, Piedmont, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    To maximize initial quality going to storage and maintain postharvest antioxidant property of minimally processed corn salad, the synergistical effects of culture systems (traditional soil culture system -TCS vs. soilless culture system -SCS), washing practices (unwashed vs. washed), packaging methods (flow pack bag -FPB vs. Flow pack tray -FPT), and storage temperatures (4 º C vs. 8 º C) on antioxidant property of minimally processed corn salad (Valerianella olitoria L.) was investigated during 7 days storage. Results showed that SCS-grown corn salad contained significantly more 25.6%, 17.5%, 57.0%, and 67.0% of total ascorbic acid (TAA), ascorbic acid (AA), total phenols (TP), and antioxidant capacity (AC), but less chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments than TCS, respectively. TAA, AA, and TP were the main contributors to AC with the extremely positive correlations between them. Washing practice induced a transient increase in AC value only at processing day (d0). thatThe AC value was significantly higher in SCS-grown leaves than TCS-grown leaves during the whole storage period. FPT packaging had considerable impact on pigments preservation and DHA generation, which was highly culture system-depended. Storage temperature showed no significant influences on overall quality. Browning enzyme (phenylalanine ammonia lyase -PAL, polyphenol oxidase -PPO, peroxidase -POD) activities were significantly influenced by factors tested and changed over time, however, no visible browning spots were observed at the end of storage. After 7 days storage, all leaves were still fresh and marketable with the largest fresh weight loss of 0.38%. Conclusively, the synergism of SCS, washing practice, and FPT favored to obtain high quality raw material at harvest and maintain postharvest antioxidant property of minimally processed corn salad during storage. This unique finding not only provided an innovative and feasible strategy for fresh-cut industry to produce improved quality product to meet high expectation and demand from nowadays consumers, but also highlighted the significance of integration in pre-/postharvest factors for fresh supply chain.

    Keywords: Culture system, Fresh-cut chain, Total phenols, antioxidant capacity, enzyme activity, shelf-life

    Received: 23 Jul 2024; Accepted: 23 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhan, Fan, Fantana, Tibaldi and Nicola. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Silvana Nicola, University of Turin, Turin, 10124, Piedmont, Italy

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