Mogren, Lars
- Harper Adams University
Abstract
BACKGROUND Quality management in the fresh produce industry is an important issue. Spinach is exposed to various adverse conditions (temperature, light, etc.) within the supply chain. The present experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of light conditions (dark, low-intensity light (LL) and high-intensity light (HL)) and photoperiod (6h HL and 18h dark) on the quality changes of cold-stored spinach. RESULTS HL exposure resulted in oxidative stress, causing tissue damage and quality loss as evidenced by increased membrane damage and water loss. The content of total ascorbic acid was reduced under HL conditions. On the other hand, storage of spinach under LL conditions gave promising results, as nutritional quality was not reduced, while texture maintenance was improved. No significant differences, with the exception of nutritional quality, were found between spinach leaves stored under continuous (24h) low-intensity light (30-35 mu molm(-2)s(-1)) and their counterparts stored under the same light integral over 6h (130-140 mu molm(-2)s(-1)). CONCLUSION LL extended the shelf-life of spinach. The amount of light received by the leaves was the key factor affecting produce quality. Light intensity, however, has to be low enough not to cause excess oxidative stress and lead to accelerated senescence. (c) 2014 Society of Chemical Industry
Keywords
ascorbic acid; colour evaluation; light intensity; membrane integrity; shelf-life; spinach
Published in
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
2015, volume: 95, number: 9, pages: 1821-1829
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Horticulture
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.6880
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/67473