Effect of storage on phenolic profiles and antioxidant activity of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) Varieties of Kashmir valley

摘要

Samples of five sweet cherry cultivars, fvfakhrnali, Awal Number, Siah Gole, Double and Misri were harvested at maturity and stored at 4 deg C and 25 deg C for 20 and 7 days, respectively. Total phenols in the extracts of the freshly harvested cherrysamples varied from -180 - 350 mg/100 g fresh weight and slightly increased during storage (-480 - 388 rug/100 g fresh weight) at room temperature (25 deg C) mostly attributable to slight increases in anthocyanins. Freshly harvested Siah Goie cherries exhibited the highest aritioxidant activity (446 p. moie/g fr wt) compared to the other varieties. Cool storage decreased phenol levels and antioxidant activities of these five varieties. The data obtained show that the mode and length of storage influencesignificantly the phenolic contents of cherries, and that in turn apparently affect their antioxidant properties. A strong correlation (Rz = 0.782) was observed between total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity of extracts from fresh varieties. The results suggest that since antioxidant potency of cherry samples are related to their phenolic content, the storage induced changes in phenolic content can be concluded to affect the antioxidant properties of cherries.