Pre-cooling application before cold storage delayed ripening and maintained high antioxidant activity of 'Sonata' sweet cherry

摘要

Sweet cherry {Prunus avium L. 'Sonata') fruits were harvested at commercial ripening and transferred immediately at laboratory. Fruits were selected for the following treatments: control (cold storage) and pre-cooling (air pre-cooling and cold storage). After that fruits were stored at 2°C for 4, 8 and 12 days plus an additional period of 2 days at 20°C. Evaluation of quality parameters (weight loss, total soluble solids, acidity, firmness, and colour) revealed that control cherries showed acceleration on the changes of these parameters while in those pre-cooled fruits retardation was observed. In addition, accumulation of total phenolics, total anthocyanins and total carotenoids was also delayed over storage, although final concentrations were always higher in pre-cooled than in control cherries. In conclusion, the application of pre-cooling treatment before cold storage could be a good tool to retard the postharvest ripening process of sweet cherry and in turn to extend the storability of thisperishable fruit. Interestingly, at the end of storage pre-cooled cherries showed higher antioxidant activity, in both hydrophilic and lipophilic fractions, than control fruits, showing higher health-beneficial effects for consumers.