Effect of oxalic acid treatment on maintaining pomegranate fruit quality and antioxidant potential

F., Guillén; M., Sayyari; P., Zapata; P.J., Zapata; D., Valero; M., Serrano

Effect of oxalic acid treatment on maintaining pomegranate fruit quality and antioxidant potential

2012

The aim of this work was to study the effect of pre-storage oxalic acid treatment at three concentrations (2, 4, and 6mM) on pomegranate CI and fruit quality after long-term storage at 2ºC. The CI symptoms were significantly reduced by oxalic acid treatment, especially for the 6 mM concentration. In addition, control pomegranates showed a significant reduction in the content of total phenolics and ascorbic acid as well as in total antioxidant activity (TAA), in both hydrophilic (H-TAA) and lipophilic (L-TAA) fractions after long term storage. However, the application of oxalic acid led to lower losses of total phenolics and significant increase in both ascorbic acid content and H-TAA, whereas L-TAA remained unaffected. Thus, oxalic acid could be a natural promising postharvest treatment to alleviate CI and increase antioxidant potential of pomegranate, by enhancing or maintaining the bioactive compounds.

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