Pre-cut hot water treatment can inhibit the browning of fresh-cut apple by regulating phenylpropanoid pathway metabolism

Fresh-cut apple is a ready-to-eat food with a promising market, but the browning limits its industry development.
This study investigated that the effect of hot water pre-treatment on inhibiting browning of fresh-cut apples.
The optimal conditions for fresh-cut apples were confirmed by sensory evaluation, a* value, b* value and L* value, which was hot water pre-treatment 50°C for 10 min, and placed 24 h at 5°C before cutting.
Additionally, this study determined phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity, total phenolic content and polyphenylene oxide (PPO) activity, and speculated on how the hot water pre-treatment could inhibit the browning in fresh-cut apples.
Compared with the control, the PAL activity and total phenolic content with hot pre-treatment were significantly increased, and PPO activity was activated.
This study found that heat treatment inhibited enzymatic browning by inhibiting the total phenolic content, thus improving the browning resistance of fresh-cut apples.

IV International Conference on Fresh-Cut Produce: Maintaining Quality and Safety

S. Ma, L. Chen, Y. Peng, J. Shi

hot water pre-treatment, fresh-cut apples, browning, phenylpropanoid pathway metabolism

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1319.23