Antioxidant content of fresh-cut pears stored in high-O2 active packages compared with conventional low-o2 active and passive modified atmosphere packaging

Abstract

The antioxidant content of fresh-cut ‘Flor de Invierno’ (Pyrus communis L.) pears dipped into a 0.75% w/v N-acetylcysteine + 0.75% w/v glutathione solution and packaged under 70 kPa of O2 atmospheres (HOA) was evaluated as an alternative to actively modified low-O2 atmosphere (LOA) and passively modified atmospheres (PA). Changes in color, vitamin C, individual phenolic compounds, and antioxidant activity of fresh-cut pears as well as in O2, CO2, and ethylene headspace concentrations inside the packages were assessed for 14 days at 4 °C. Not only did the use of antioxidants prevent browning and reduce ethylene production of fresh-cut pears, but also their application under LOA best maintained vitamin C, chlorogenic acid, and antioxidant capacity compared with HOA. The results show that the use of glutathione and N-acetylcysteine enhanced the formation of phenylpropanoids in fresh-cut pears stored under LOA.

This research was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (Spain) through the AGL 2003-09208-C01 project, the European Social Fund, and the Departament d’Universitats Recerca i Societat de la Informació of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Spain), which also awarded G.O.-O. and I.O.-S. a predoctoral grant.