Studying the Influence of Storage Conditions, 1-MCP, and Packaging Films on Quality of Sweet Dalilah Green and Red Stage Peppers (Capsicum annuum L.)

Abstract

Peppers are a popular fresh market commodity but have a limited shelf life. The present study evaluated the effects of storage time, packaging films, and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on weight loss, firmness, respiration rate, ethylene production, ascorbic acid, antioxidant activity, and bioactive compounds of Sweet Delilah (Capsicum annuum). Four packaging films were tested in this study: polypropylene (P12F), laminated polynylon (30 NV), coextruded vacuum pouch (30 NVC), and polyethylene (P15G). Collectively, packaged peppers showed less weight loss than the control. When stored at the red stage, the firmness loss was 13 % in peppers that were treated with 1-MCP compared to 25% loss in the control samples. The most significant reduction in respiration rate in the red stage peppers was 0.88 ml kg-1 h-1 when packaged with 30NVC and 0.91 ml kg-1 h-1 when packaged with P15G, compared to 1.22 ml kg-1 h-1 for the control. The ranges of total phenolic and total flavonoid compounds were 3782 and 5090, respectively, in the green stage and 519 and 647 µg/g, respectively, in the green and red stages. When Sweet Delilah peppers that were treated with 1-MCP maintained higher levels of phenolic and flavonoid compounds than the control samples. Overall, the largest phenolic and flavonoid losses occurred from the control samples, while the smallest phenolic and flavonoid losses occurred from the packaged peppers. The highest ABTS activity was 150 µmol TE/g when packaged with P12G film, whereas the lowest ABTS activity was 143 µmol TE/g in the control samples in the red stage. Peppers packaged with 30NVC films retained higher ascorbic acid levels than peppers that were packaged with other films and the control samples. Keywords: Peppers, Phenolics, Flavonoids, Ascorbic acid, Antioxidant activity, Packaging.