Influence of foliar spray and post-harvest treatments on head yield, shelf-life, and physicochemical qualities of broccoli

Sushanta Kumar Tarafder; Mrityunjoy Biswas; Umakanta Sarker; Sezai Ercisli; Zuhal Okcu; Romina Alina Marc; Kirill S Golokhvast

doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1057084

Influence of foliar spray and post-harvest treatments on head yield, shelf-life, and physicochemical qualities of broccoli

Front Nutr. 2023 Apr 17:10:1057084. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1057084. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Sushanta Kumar Tarafder¹, Mrityunjoy Biswas¹, Umakanta Sarker², Sezai Ercisli³, Zuhal Okcu⁴, Romina Alina Marc⁵, Kirill S Golokhvast⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agro Product Processing Technology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, Bangladesh.
² Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Türkiye.
⁴ Department of Gastronomy, Faculty of Tourism, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Türkiye.
⁵ Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
⁶ Siberian Federal Scientific Center of Agrobiotechnology RAS, Krasnoobsk, Russia.

Abstract

Rapid senescence is the key factor in the deterioration of post-harvest shelf-life in broccoli heads. This study evaluates the head yield and its related traits, and physicochemical attributes of broccoli under four foliar sprays of mineral nutrients (B, Zn, Mo, and B + Zn + Mo) with control. The interaction effects of shelf-life and physicochemical attributes of broccoli for these five pre-harvest and five post-harvest storage treatments (LDP bag, HDP vacuum pack, 2% eggshell powder solution, 2% ascorbic acid, and control) both at cold storage and room temperature were evaluated with three replications. The significantly higher marketable head yield of 28.02 t ha^-1, maximum gross return [(Bangladesh Taka (BDT 420300 ha^-1)], net return (BDT 30565 ha^-1), and maximum benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 3.67 were obtained from the pre-harvest foliar application of B + Zn + Mo in broccoli. Pre-harvest foliar spray of combined nutrient B + Zn + Mo and post-harvest treatment high-density polyethylene (HDP, 15 μm) vacuum packaging efficiently improve post-harvest physicochemical attributes, viz., compactness, green color, texture, carbohydrates, fats, energy, antioxidants, vitamin C, and total phenols in broccoli head compared to the rest of the treatment combinations. In addition, this treatment combination also confirmed a maximum shelf-life of 24.55 days at cold storage [relative humidity (RH) 90-95% and 4°C] and 7.05 days at room temperature (RH 60-65% and 14-22°C) compared to the rest of the treatment combinations. Therefore, we recommend a pre-harvest foliar spray of combined nutrient elements B + Zn + Mo and an HDP (15 μm) vacuum post-harvest packaging for the maximum benefits for both farmers and consumers to get the best head yield, anticipated physicochemical attributes, and maximum shelf-life of broccoli.

Keywords: antioxidants; ascorbic acid; color; head yield; post-harvest packaging; pre-harvest foliar spay; texture; total phenol content.