Effect of ozone treatment on the microstructure, chemical composition and sensory quality of apple fruits

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of O 3 treatment on the quality of different cultivars of apples (Malus domestica Borkh.). Apples were stored for six months at different concentrations of ozone. During the research, minor differences between ozone-treated and control fruits were found in terms of cell integrity and epicuticular wax structure. Ozone application for apple treatment could accelerate the natural ageing of the waxes found on the surface of apples, thereby reducing the thickness of the waxes. The rate of degradation for the epicuticular wax was found to be cultivar dependent. After six months of storage, the ozonation process prevented the decay of 'Iedzenu', 'Auksis' and 'Belorusskoje Malinovoje' apple cultivars, but it accelerated damage in the 'Gita' apple cultivar. A positive impact of ozone during long-term storage was found regarding flesh firmness of 'Iedzenu' apple cultivar samples subjected to O 3 exposure at concentrations of 0.8 ppm and 3.0 ppm. In other cultivars of apples, significant differences between ozonation and cold storage (control) were not found. In general, ozone treatment has a potential to be applied in order to maintain the sensory quality and biologically active compound level in apples during six-month storage; however, the degree of effectiveness depends both on the cultivar and on the concentration of ozone.

Effectiveness of Low-Dose Continuous Gaseous Ozone in Controlling Listeria innocua on Red Delicious Apples During 9-Month Commercial Cold Storage

“…However, the changes of apple firmness were similar for Fuji apples under CA storage alone or supplemented with ozone gas ( Sheng et al, 2018 ). Accordingly, the application of gaseous ozone at 0.8 mg/L during 6 months of cold storage retarded the loss of flesh firmness in Ledzenu and Auksis apples ( Juhnevica-Radenkova et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Furthermore, ozone gas application during storage is beneficial to maintain fruit quality. For example, 1–3 mg/L gaseous ozone exposure was reported to maintain the firmness of apples ( Antos et al, 2018 ) and reduced apple weight loss ( Juhnevica-Radenkova et al, 2019 ). We previously showed that 30 weeks of continuous application of gaseous ozone at 87 μg/L in CA storage reduced Listeria by ∼5.0 log 10 CFU/apple on Fuji apples without negatively impacting apple fruit quality ( Sheng et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Ozone gas is approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a Generally Recognized as Safe agent (FDA, 2020a) and is approved for use in organic production and handling (USDA-NOP, 2021). Gaseous ozone at a fixed rate for a short duration has been investigated to control major food-borne pathogens, including Escherichia coli O157:H7 (Han et al, 2002), Salmonella (Das et al, 2006), and L. monocytogenes (Alwi and Ali, 2014;Concha-Meyer et al, 2014) on fresh produce. For example, ozone gas at 10 mg/L resulted in a ∼7 log 10 CFU/tomato reduction of Salmonella Enteritidis inoculated on tomatoes within 1 h (Das et al, 2006).…”

Practical in‐storage interventions to control foodborne pathogens on fresh produce

“…The treatment also delayed apple fruit ripening through the reduction of firmness loss and titratable acidity while had no negative impact on fruit visual quality (Sheng et al., 2018). Six months of storage at 2°C and 85% RH with 0.8 ppm ozone significantly reduced spoilage of apples of various varieties compared with those stored without ozone gas (Juhnevica‐Radenkova et al., 2019). A 107‐day continuous exposure to 0.4 ppm ozone gas at 0°C reduced the ethylene production of apples and pears with no symptom of ozone burn or other quality deterioration (Skog & Chu, 2001).…”

Development of a scientific concept of industrial storage systems for environmentally safe apples

“…The history of developing methods for storing fruit and vegetable products shows that atmospheric air and its components are used in most cases. Storage in artificially created gases (for example, ozone) has not found wide application in practice due to their high cost or low efficiency (for fruits) [9], [10], [11]. Based on the gas composition of atmospheric air and depending on the type of environment created on its basis, we conducted research on the storage of fruits and vegetables: -in a controlled atmosphere (CA); -in bioactive bactericidal packaging; -with a surface coating of fruits with biologically active preparations.…”