Ozone treatment mantains mango quality during postharvest, including carotenoid content

Mango is a vital fruit due to its high nutritional properties and economic value (Hmmam et al., 2021).?The fruit contains essential dietary compounds such as proteins, vitamins, flavonoids, phenolics, and?carotenoids (Maldonado-Celis et al., 2019). It is highly perishable with a relatively short shelf-life due to?high respiration rate and ethylene production leading to biochemical changes (Hmmam et al., 2021;?Kaur et al., 2020). The increased respiration rate during mango ripening leads to enzyme activities,?increased aroma, decreased firmness, and color changes (Hmmam et al., 2021). Various postharvest technologies are used to maintain fresh produce quality, including ozone (O3), pulsed electric field, heat treatment, ultraviolet irradiation, and chemical treatment. OzoneOzone is produced by electric corona discharge or ultraviolet radiation (Pandiselvam et al.,?2019). It has high oxidizing power and antimicrobial properties that are effective against an?extensive spectrum of microorganisms (Brodowska et al., 2018; Contigiani et al., 2018). The benefit?of O3 is that it doesn?t leave chemical residues that pose threats to the environment and human?health. Ozone is an unstable gas that decomposes rapidly to form highly reactive oxidative radicals?such as superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical (Perry & Yousef, 2011). It is speculated that the free?radicals attribute to the augmented oxidizing power of O3. The radicals are highly unstable with?a short lifespan. They react with other molecules to gain the missing electron (Brodowska et al.,?2018). Therefore, the United States of America Food and Drug Administration (FDA, 2001) declared?O3 as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS).Ozone effectsOzone extends the shelf-life of fresh produce by delaying respiration rate, ripening, and senescence. For instance, Chen et al. (2020) reported that O3 (15.008 mg m? 3?) reduced the respiration?rate in ?the west mi 25? cantaloupes during storage at 4 ? for 42 days. Ozone oxidizes ethylene in?fresh produce during storage (Aslam et al., 2020). The respiration rate influences biochemical?changes that initiate cell wall degradation processes, resulting in loss of firmness and ripening. Previous research has shown that O3 maintains firmness in various horticultural crops (Chen et al.,?2020). For instance, Panou et al. (2021) reported that gaseous O3 (1.0 mg/L, 40 min) maintained?firmness in ?Carbarosa? strawberries during storage at 1 ? for 16 days. Fruit softening is characterized by the modification of cell wall components, including hemicellulose, pectin, and polysaccharides leading to loss of fruit firmness (Toti et al., 2018). Enzyme activities play an essential?role in cell wall degradation. For instance, Cardenas-Perez et al. (2018) reported an increase in?enzyme activities of Polygalacturonase (PG) and pectin methylesterase (PME) during mango ripening. Furthermore, the cell wall pectin methyl esters are hydrolyzed by the PME enzyme (Toti et al.,?2018). While, the PG enzyme degrades pectic polysaccharides into water-soluble galacturonides?resulting in fruit softening (Cardenas-Perez et al., 2018). Ozone and carotenoid contentsThe carotenoid content in mango fruit is a good source of pro-vitamin A (3894 IU/100 g) (Lebaka?et al., 2021). During fruit ripening, mango changes color from green to yellow-orange due to?carotenoid biosynthesis (Liang et al., 2020). Ali et al. (2014) reported that gaseous O3 (5 mg/L,?96 h) enhanced the ?-carotene content in ?Sekaki? papaya during storage at 25 ? for 14 days. Ozone has been shown to be effective in the carotenoid content in fresh produce (de Almeida?Monaco et al., 2016; Minas et al., 2010).Ozone is an eco-friendly postharvest technology and could provide a potential solution in?maintaining fruit quality and extending the shelf-life of mango fruit. Therefore, preserving fruit?quality is one of the critical solutions in sustaining food and nutritional security. This study?evaluated the influence of O3 on the physicochemical quality attributes and carotenoid content?of mango fruit (cv. Keitt) during cold storage. AbastractThis study investigated the effect of gaseous ozone (O3) exposure time on?the postharvest quality and shelf-life of mangoes. ?Keitt? mango fruit harvested at?physiological maturity was exposed to 0.25 mg/L of O3 for 12, 24, 36, or 48 hours,?and the control fruit were untreated. Fruit were thereafter stored at 10 ? for three?weeks and ripened at ambient temperature for one week. Postharvest parameters?such as mass loss, decay incidence, firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable?acidity (TA), and carotenoid content were assessed at weekly intervals. The findings?showed that the physiological weight loss of untreated fruit (30.92%) was significantly higher (p <0.05) compared to O3 (12 h), O3 (24 h), O3 (36 h), and O3 (48 h)?treated fruit, which was 28.49%, 25.90%, 20.54%, and 20.50%, respectively. Fruit?treated with O3 (36 h) significantly maintained firmness, delayed TSS accumulation,?and decreased loss of TA. The untreated fruit had a higher decay incidence compared to other treatments at the end of storage. Moreover, the total carotenoid?content was notably higher in O3 (48 h) treated fruit during storage. Overall, the?results demonstrated that the shelf-life of mango fruit was longer under the 36 h?and 48 h treatments. These research findings indicate that O3 could be used effectively to maintain the postharvest quality and extend the shelf-life of mango?fruit. Therefore, O3 (36 h) is recommended as a cost-effective postharvest treatmentfor ?Keitt? mangoes. Picture is Fig 3 of the paper - Effect of gaseous?ozone (0.25 mg/L) on total carotenoid content of mango fruit?stored at 10 ? for three weeks?and one-week shelf-life at?ambient temperature (p < 0.05;??SE, n = 9). SourcePostharvest effect of gaseous ozone on?physicochemical quality, carotenoid content and?shelf-life of mango fruitNonjabulo L. Bambalele, Asanda Mditshwa, Lembe S. Magwaza & Samson Z.?TesfayCogent Food & AgriculturePublished online: 15 Aug 2023.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311932.2023.2247678?