Effect of high-temperature-conditioning treatments on quality, flavonoid composition and vitamin C of cold stored ‘Fortune’ mandarins

• Published in: Food chemistry 2011-10, Vol.128 (4), p.1080-1086
• Main Authors: Lafuente, María T., Ballester, Ana R., Calejero, Joaquín, González-Candelas, Luis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antioxidant capacity; Biological and medical sciences; Carpellary membranes; Chilling; Citrus fruit; Cold quarantine storage; Food industries; Fruit and vegetable industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Handling, storage, packaging, transport; High-temperature-conditioning; Phenolics
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.03.129

► Heat conditioning (37°C, 1day) enables cold quarantine treatments in citrus fruits. ► Cold quarantine treatments increase didymin, narirutin and eriocitrin in citrus fruit. ► Heat conditioning has no deleterious effects on relevant flavonoids or vitamin C. ► Carpellary membranes contain high flavonoids levels that may be lost in citrus juices. The effect of high-temperature-conditioning treatments (1–2days at 37°C) on fruit quality, flavonoids, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and vitamin C was investigated in chilling-sensitive ‘Fortune’ mandarins subjected to single or double quarantine treatments (16 or 32days at 1.5°C, respectively). High temperature-conditioning treatments, which reduced chilling injury, allowed fruits to withstand quarantine treatments without affecting the fruit quality, vitamin C or TAC. Hesperidin and isorhoifolin were the most abundant flavonoids followed by didymin and narirutin, whereas the polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) nobiletin and tangeretin were the less abundants. Didymin and narirutin slightly increased (∼1.5-fold) at 1.5°C. A 4-fold increase occurred in eriocitrin, though its concentration was much lower. Small differences in flavonoids were found between non-conditioned fruit and fruit conditioned for 1day after cold storage and their concentration in carpellary membranes were, in general, much higher than in juice. Therefore, fruit conditioning at 37°C allows chilling-sensitive citrus cultivars to withstand quarantine treatments without having deleterious effects on the fruit quality, vitamin C or relevant flavonoids.