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BACKGROUND: Among the challenges for postharvest researchers is that of understanding the physiological and biochemical pathways associated with postharvest fruit decay. Fruit senescence directly affects sensorial and nutritional quality during postharvest life. It has been clarified that reactive oxygen species and oxidative damage are responsible for fruit senescence. Some cultivars of yellow‐fleshed kiwifruit can be stored for a short period compared with green‐fleshed kiwifruit. Postharvest performance is affected by the physiological state of the fruit at harvest, associated with its postharvest management. Among several postharvest applications, ozone treatment is considered as a cost‐effective and eco‐friendly food‐processing technology to preserve the fruits' quality during cold storage. In this study, we investigated the influence of ozone, after gradual cooling treatment, on the antioxidant defense system in Actinidia chinensis, 'Soreli'. RESULTS: Bioactive compound content decreased during cold storage, and ozone treatment enhanced the activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase during cold storage. This treatment preserved membrane integrity by inhibiting lipoxygenase activity and malondialdehyde accumulation. A multivariate statistical approach, using principal component analysis, provided the global response to the effect of ozone postharvest treatment during cold storage in kiwifruit 'Soreli'. CONCLUSION: Ozone treatment improves the efficiency of antioxidative system and storability of 'Soreli' kiwifruits. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The storage of chestnuts is a highly critical phase due to the considerable postharvest losses of the product with relevant commercial impact. The effect on the chemical quality parameters of chestnuts treated with 300 ppb of gaseous ozone in air or in atmospheric air at T = 2 °C for 150 days during the storage has been investigated. The ozone treatment increased sucrose and total sugar contents; while tocopherols were reduced. No significant differences in weight loss and fatty acid content were recorded between chestnut treated with ozone and untreated fruits (P ≥ 0.05). In addition, chestnut ozone exposure for 150 days reduced the total microbial populations associated with the pericarps of about 1.6 logs for mesophilic bacteria and 1.0 logs for fungi. Overall, our results suggested that gaseous ozone treatment is a valid and economic technology to ensure the shelf life quality of chestnut during the long storage periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Some algae are an excellent sources of vitamin B12, of special interest for vegetarian/vegan consumers, and of fucose to supplement fruit and vegetable beverages such as smoothies. Nevertheless, supplementation of smoothies with algae may lead to possible quality changes during smoothie shelf life that need to be studied. Therefore, the quality changes in fresh green smoothies supplemented (2.2%) with nine edible algae (sea lettuce, kombu, wakame, thongweed, dulse, Irish moss, nori, Spirulina and Chlorella) were studied throughout 24 days at 5 °C. RESULTS: The initial vitamin C content – 238.7–326.0 mg kg−1 fresh weight (FW) – of a 200 g portion of any of the smoothies ensured full coverage of its recommended daily intake, and still supplying 50–60% of the recommended intake after 7 days. Chlorella and Spirulina smoothies showed the highest vitamin B12 content (33.3 and 15.3 µg kg−1 FW, respectively), while brown algae showed fucose content of 141.1–571.3 mg kg−1 FW. These vitamin B12 and fucose contents were highly maintained during shelf life. CONCLUSION: The Spirulina supplementation of a 200 g smoothie portion ensured full coverage of the recommended vitamin B12 intake, with lower vitamin C degradation, during a shelf life of 17 days. Furthermore, thongweed and kombu are also considered as excellent fucose sources with similar shelf life. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]