Bioactive compounds in ready-to-eat rocket leaves as affected by oxygen partial pressure and storage time: a kinetic modelling

M. J. Pereira, A. L. Amaro, A. Oliveira, M. Pintado*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Storage techniques, such as low temperature and modified atmosphere packaging, are efficient in keeping visual quality of ready-to-eat (RTE) products such as processed leafy vegetables throughout the supply chain, but studies on appearance often neglect the effect of different storage conditions on their nutritional properties. The effects of initial O2 partial pressure (20, 10, 5 and 2.5 kPa O2) in packages and storage time (14 d) on RTE rocket leaves on the bioactive compounds, phenolics, ascorbic acid, and antioxidant activity were determined. Kinetic models were applied to allow the assessment and prediction of the influence of initial partial pressure on nutritional composition. The results show that lowering package initial O2 partial pressure from 20 kPa to 5–10 kPa reduced the respiration rate by 53 and 38%, respectively. However, antioxidant activity and ascorbic acid content showed most effects with an initial O2 of 5 kPa. The kinetic parameters are relevant to help predict phytochemical changes during storage under different package O2 partial pressures. To obtain an overall quality, the application of intermediate atmospheres would be beneficial.

Original languageEnglish
Article number110985
Pages (from-to)1-6
Number of pages6
JournalPostharvest Biology and Technology
Volume158
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2019

Keywords

  • Antioxidant activity
  • Diplotaxis tenuifolia
  • Kinetics
  • Modified atmosphere packaging
  • Phenolic compounds

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