Effects of Ozone Treatment on Postharvest Storage Quality and Sterilization of Late-maturing Citrus
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Abstract:
The late-maturing citrus was used as experimental material to explore the effect of different ozone treatment durations on citrus postharvest storage in an effort to counter the problem of quality decline and fruit decay during the postharvest storage of citrus. The results showed that treatment with fixed ozone concentrations every day (for different durations) for 25 days had a significant impact on the quality of late-maturing citrus. Ozone treatment for 1 min per day could significantly reduce the weight-loss rate of citrus, which was only 59.90% of that of the CK group after storage for 25 days. The contents of total soluble solids (TSS) in citrus were effectively maintained after daily treatment for 10 min; the TSS content was 9.20% at the end of storage. Ozone treatment could delay the decrease in the Vc content of citrus; it significantly inhibited the activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), and reduced the number of microorganisms present on the surface of citrus peel. However, the duration of ozone treatment did not have any significant effect on citrus hardness, titratable acid (TA) content, and solid acid ratio. Treatment for 1, 10, 20, and 40 min daily could inhibit the increase in the malondialdehyde (MDA) content and enhance the activity of peroxidase (POD) in citrus. Treatment for 40 min daily also significantly increased the total polyphenol content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) of citrus. Principal components analysis showed that the comprehensive quality of citrus treated with ozone for 10 and 40 min daily was better. From the perspective of economy and safety, daily ozone treatment for 10 min could be used as a suitable method for preserving late-maturing citrus fruits during post-harvest storage.
