The effect of postharvest 1-MCP treatment and storage atmosphere on 'Cripps Pink' apple phenolics and antioxidant activity

Nga T T Hoang; John B Golding; Meredith A Wilkes

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.01.052

The effect of postharvest 1-MCP treatment and storage atmosphere on 'Cripps Pink' apple phenolics and antioxidant activity

Food Chem. 2011 Aug 1;127(3):1249-56. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.01.052. Epub 2011 Jan 20.

Authors

Nga T T Hoang¹, John B Golding², Meredith A Wilkes³

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Nong Lam University, Thu Duc Dist., Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam; Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Biomedical Building (C81) ATP, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
² Gosford Primary Industries Institute, Industry & Investment NSW, Locked Bag 26, Gosford, NSW 2250, Australia.
³ Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Biomedical Building (C81) ATP, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Electronic address: Meredith.wilkes@sydney.edu.au.

PMID: 25214122
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.01.052

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of a postharvest 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment, controlled atmosphere and storage time on the total antioxidant activity (TAA) and phenolic compounds in the peel and flesh of 'Cripps Pink' apples (Malus domestica Borkh.). Preclimacteric apples were harvested and treated with 1-MCP then stored in normal atmosphere (NA) or controlled atmosphere (CA) at 0°C for up to 160days. In general, the level of phenolics decreased by 9% in the peel and significantly increased twofold in the flesh during cold storage, regardless of storage atmosphere or 1-MCP treatment. However, treatment with 1-MCP resulted in significantly lower concentrations of chlorogenic acid and procyanidin B2 in apple flesh, and catechin and epicatechin in the peel compared to the control fruits. There was no significant effect of CA on the phenolic compounds during long-term storage, except for quercetin 3-galactoside and quercetin 3-glucoside, which both significantly increased under CA storage. Total antioxidant activity (TAA) is an important nutritional attribute of apples in the human diet. The results showed that TAA in the peel tissue was about eight times higher than that of the flesh, with mean values of 4.75gTE/kgFW and 0.56TE/kgFW, respectively. The TAA in both the peel and flesh tissue increased significantly during storage by 40% and 70%, respectively. The storage atmosphere did not significantly affect TAA in either the peel or flesh, whilst the 1-MCP treatment significantly reduced the TAA in the peel tissue only. These results show the beneficial combined effects of pre-storage 1-MCP treatment and CA on 'Cripps Pink' apple phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity during long term storage.

Keywords: 1-MCP; Antioxidant; Apple; Atmosphere; Phenolic; Storage; ‘Cripps Pink’.