Hydrogen-rich water maintains the color quality of fresh-cut Chinese water chestnut

• Published in: Postharvest biology and technology 2022-01, Vol.183, p.111743, Article 111743
• Main Authors: Li, Fengjun, Hu, Ying, Shan, Youxia, Liu, Juan, Ding, Xiaochun, Duan, Xuewu, Zeng, Jiqing, Jiang, Yueming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accumulation; Chinese water chestnut; Eleocharis dulcis; Flavonoid; Flavonoids; Fresh-cut; Hydrogen peroxide; Hydrogen-rich water; Lipoxygenase; Superoxide dismutase; Yellowing
• ISSN: 0925-5214; 1873-2356
• DOI: 10.1016/j.postharvbio.2021.111743

•HRW treatment delayed yellowing of fresh-cut water chestnut.•HRW treatment alleviated oxidative damage.•HRW treatment decreased PAL activity and accumulation of flavonoids.•HRW treatment inhibited gene expressions of phenylpropanoid pathway. Chinese water chestnut is an important cultivated corm vegetable in South China. The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of application of exogenous hydrogen-rich water (HRW) on yellowing inhibition of fresh-cut Chinese water chestnut during storage at 4 °C. The results exhibited that the HRW treatment effectively delayed the yellowing of fresh-cut Chinese water chestnut. The treatment reduced greatly the H2O2 accumulation and lipoxygenase activity but enhanced the superoxide dismutase activity. Furthermore, the HRW treatment slowed down the accumulation of flavonoids and transcript levels of phenylpropanoid pathway genes and MYB transcription factor of fresh-cut Chinese water chestnut. Taken together, these results exhibited that HRW treatment effectively attenuated the oxidative damage and inhibited the activation of phenylpropanoid pathway, and, thus, slowed down the accumulation of flavonoids, which eventually reflected in the delay in yellowing of fresh-cut Chinese water chestnut during storage.