Postharvest application of acibenzolar-S-methyl and plant extracts affect physicochemical properties of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) fruits

Abstract

The demand for fruits with high anthocyanin content, such as blueberries, has increased in recent years due to their health benefits. However, few studies are known on the postharvest behavior of blueberry fruits subjected to the application of plant extracts and acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM). The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of the application of ASM and vegetable extracts (mint and coriander) on the organoleptic characteristics of blueberry fruits stored at 16°C during postharvest through a completely randomized design with five treatments. The contents of total anthocyanins in fruits (TA) did not differ between treatments, with values that ranged between 74.1 mg and 83.9 mg 100 g-1 of fresh weight. The TA tended to increase during storage and then to decrease during senescence. The firmness of blueberry fruits increased during storage, but hardness did not increase, since the fruits are softer and show wrinkling over time, indicating that the epidermis of the fruits has great elasticity. The fruits with the application of vegetable extracts showed the highest total soluble solids and total titratable acidity. The values of red/green and yellow/blue ratio increased, so the blueberry fruits slightly lost their blue hue during postharvest. Fruits with ASM application reached a postharvest life of 15 d after harvest (dah) while the other treatments only maintained quality for 13 dah.

Postharvest behavior of feijoa fruit (Acca sellowiana Berg) subjected to different 1-MCP doses and storage temperatures

“…For 42 days, the accumulated mass loss (ML) expressed in percentage (%) was evaluated; the mass of six feijoa fruit was established with a 0.001g precision electronic balance, VîBRL AJ220E (Shinko Denshi Co., Ltd, Japan). The value was recorded for each measurement over time and was calculated according to the methodology used by Álvarez-Herrera et al (2021). For the respiratory rate (RR): three fruits were used for each EU, which were placed in 2L SEE BC-2000 hermetic chambers (Vernier Software & Technology, OR, USA) for 10 min.…”

“…Then, the amount of CO 2 was determined with a VER CO 2 -BTA infrared sensor (Vernier Software & Technology, OR, USA) using the interface system LabQuest2 (Vernier Software & Technology, USA). The measurements are expressed in mg kg -1 h -1 of CO 2 according to Álvarez-Herrera et al (2021). For the fruit firmness (N): a similarly sized fruit for each EU was used, whose firmness was measured with a GY-4 penetrometer (Yueqing Handpi Instruments Co., Ltd, China) with a 3.5 mm diameter tip, a pressure depth of 10 mm and an accuracy of 0.01 N.…”

“…The color of the endocarp and exocarp was determined with a CHNSpec CS-200 Minolta digital colorimeter (Hangzhou CHNSpec Technology Co., Ltd, China) on the scale of L*: luminosity, a*: chromaticity from green to red, and b*: chromaticity from blue to yellow with the CIELAB model. Six fruits per UE were used, and the chromaticity and hue (hue) were calculated using the method used by Jaime-Guerrero et al (2021). For the soluble solids (SS): the juice of three feijoa fruits was extracted for each EU, where two drops of the juice were taken from each one, and the SS was measured and expressed in °Brix using a HANNA HI 96803 digital refractometer with a scale of 0% to 85% (Hanna Instruments, Woonsocket, RI).…”