Antioxidants 2017, 6(3), 59; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox6030059
Storage of Fruits and Vegetables in Refrigerator Increases their Phenolic Acids but Decreases the Total Phenolics, Anthocyanins and Vitamin C with Subsequent Loss of their Antioxidant Capacity
1
Department of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Université des Montagnes, P.O. Box 208, Bangangté, Cameroon
2
Department of Biochemistry, College of Basic Science and Humanities, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Palanpur-385001, Gujarat, India
3
Department of Biochemistry, B.A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand-388110, Gujarat, India
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 28 June 2017 / Revised: 13 July 2017 / Accepted: 22 July 2017 / Published: 24 July 2017
Abstract
It is of paramount importance for consumers, scientists and industrialists to understand how low-temperature storage of food items affects their bioactive compounds and properties. This study evaluated the effects of cold storage on total phenolics (TP), phenolic acids profile (PA), total anthocyanins (TA), total ascorbic acid (Vit. C) and antioxidant activity (AA) of 19 fruits and vegetables, collected from local Indian markets and stored in refrigerator (4 °C) during 15 days. Content of TP was highest in dill and amaranth and decreased (up to 29.67%) with storage. Leafy vegetables (amaranth, dill, onion, fenugreek and spinach) contained higher amounts of the 12 PA revealed by UPLC-UV; ellagic, gallic, sinapic and vanillic acids levels were the highest; chlorogenic acid (ρ = 0.423), syringic acid (ρ = 0.403) and sinapic acid (ρ = 0.452) mostly correlated with TP; and the PA increased during storage. Highest contents of Vit C estimated by AOAC, DCPIP and DNP methods were found in amaranth, dill and pomegranate, and decreased with storage. Pomegranate showed highest TA levels and low-temperature storage did not significantly increase TA, which was the largest contributor of TP in fruits and vegetables (ρ = 0.661). Storage induced a drastic decrease of AA, which mostly correlated with TP (ρ = 0.808, 0.690 and 0.458 for DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays, respectively). Spearman’s correlation confirmed by principal component analysis demonstrated that dill, pomegranate and amaranth had the highest overall antioxidant capacity, whereas orange juice and carrot showed the lowest. The results provide support for a key-role of TP, followed by Vit. C and TA in antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables, which could be interesting dietary sources of natural antioxidants for prevention of diseases caused by oxidative stress. View Full-TextKeywords:
fruits; vegetables; postharvest storage; phenolics; UPLC; antioxidants; principal component analysis
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Galani, J.H.Y.; Patel, J.S.; Patel, N.J.; Talati, J.G. Storage of Fruits and Vegetables in Refrigerator Increases their Phenolic Acids but Decreases the Total Phenolics, Anthocyanins and Vitamin C with Subsequent Loss of their Antioxidant Capacity. Antioxidants 2017, 6, 59.
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