Effect of Aloe vera gel treatment on bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity during storage of sweet cherry
2017
Serrano, M. | Castillo, S. | Valero, D. | Valverde, J. M. | Guillen, F. | Martinez-Romero, D.
In a previous experiment we have found that postharvest sweet cherry treatment with Aloe vera gel (at concentration of 33, 66, and 100%) led to significant delay on the changes in parameters related to fruit quality losses during storage, such as fresh weight, acidity and firmness losses. The main effect was obtained with 100% concentration, and this concentration was chosen to investigate the effect of such treatment on bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity. Total phenolic concentration increased during postharvest storage in control fruit, from initial levels of 130.24±5.56 mg 100 g-1 at day 0 to 170.48±7.25 mg 100 g-1 after 28 days of storage. A similar trend was found in treated fruit, although with a significant lower concentration than the control. Accordingly, total anthocyanin concentration increased along storage. Phenolic concentration was correlated with total antioxidant activity in the hydrophilic fraction of the extracts, showing that phenolics are the main hydrophilic compounds with antioxidant activity in sweet cherry. Thus, the increase in bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity that usually occurs during sweet cherry storage was delayed by aloe gel treatment, showing an effect of gel coating on delaying the normal postharvest ripening process, in accordance with previous experiments in which this treatment delayed the evolution of other nutritive and organoleptic parameters. Thus, from overall results, it could be concluded that the use of Aloe vera gel, as edible coating, could be an innovative and natural tool to preserve sweet cherry quality during storage, without detrimental effect on its content on bioactive compounds or antioxidant properties.
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