{"title":"Impact of storage period and conditions on mechanically harvested olives (Olea europaea L.)","authors":"Tea Burin, Mariana Cecilia Grohar, Jerneja Jakopic, Robert Veberic, Metka Hudina","doi":"10.1016/j.scienta.2025.114071","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, changes in visual, physical and biochemical parameters of mechanically harvested olive fruit cultivar 'Istrska belica' were evaluated during 23 days of storage under cold (C) and uncontrolled (U) conditions over two years. At harvest, the fruit of both years had a similar maturity index (0.62 and 0.76) and fruits weight (2.75 g and 2.85 g) but different firmness (5.98 N and 5.77 N) and phenolic content. In 2022, fruit at harvest were softer and had more damaged spots after mechanical harvest, which resulted on a greatest decrease in antioxidant capacity during storage (for 12 % in U and 9 % in C). Although, firmness and fruit weight decreased while the maturity index increased, the changes during storage were more evident in phenolic content, from which oleuropein decreased the most (in 2021 for 30 % in U and 18 % in C, in 2022 for 31 % in U and 15 % in C). Consequently, the content of its degradation products, including demethyloleuropein glucoside, elenolic acid, and verbascoside, increased over time under both storage conditions. On the other hand, an increase in oleuropein degradation was observed under uncontrolled storage conditions, which was also confirmed by the faster increase in the final products (elenolic acid glucoside, hydroxytyrosol glucoside and oleoside). Changes in phenolic contents, physical parameters and damage propagation were slower at the lowest storage temperature. The initial quality of the fruit, such as ripeness, firmness and damage, also had a strong influence on changes during storage. The results suggest that fruit should not be overripe before storage and should be cooled as soon as possible for the shortest time necessary to minimise oxidation and phenolic degradation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21679,"journal":{"name":"Scientia Horticulturae","volume":"343 ","pages":"Article 114071"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Scientia Horticulturae","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304423825001220","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HORTICULTURE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In this study, changes in visual, physical and biochemical parameters of mechanically harvested olive fruit cultivar 'Istrska belica' were evaluated during 23 days of storage under cold (C) and uncontrolled (U) conditions over two years. At harvest, the fruit of both years had a similar maturity index (0.62 and 0.76) and fruits weight (2.75 g and 2.85 g) but different firmness (5.98 N and 5.77 N) and phenolic content. In 2022, fruit at harvest were softer and had more damaged spots after mechanical harvest, which resulted on a greatest decrease in antioxidant capacity during storage (for 12 % in U and 9 % in C). Although, firmness and fruit weight decreased while the maturity index increased, the changes during storage were more evident in phenolic content, from which oleuropein decreased the most (in 2021 for 30 % in U and 18 % in C, in 2022 for 31 % in U and 15 % in C). Consequently, the content of its degradation products, including demethyloleuropein glucoside, elenolic acid, and verbascoside, increased over time under both storage conditions. On the other hand, an increase in oleuropein degradation was observed under uncontrolled storage conditions, which was also confirmed by the faster increase in the final products (elenolic acid glucoside, hydroxytyrosol glucoside and oleoside). Changes in phenolic contents, physical parameters and damage propagation were slower at the lowest storage temperature. The initial quality of the fruit, such as ripeness, firmness and damage, also had a strong influence on changes during storage. The results suggest that fruit should not be overripe before storage and should be cooled as soon as possible for the shortest time necessary to minimise oxidation and phenolic degradation.
期刊介绍:
Scientia Horticulturae is an international journal publishing research related to horticultural crops. Articles in the journal deal with open or protected production of vegetables, fruits, edible fungi and ornamentals under temperate, subtropical and tropical conditions. Papers in related areas (biochemistry, micropropagation, soil science, plant breeding, plant physiology, phytopathology, etc.) are considered, if they contain information of direct significance to horticulture. Papers on the technical aspects of horticulture (engineering, crop processing, storage, transport etc.) are accepted for publication only if they relate directly to the living product. In the case of plantation crops, those yielding a product that may be used fresh (e.g. tropical vegetables, citrus, bananas, and other fruits) will be considered, while those papers describing the processing of the product (e.g. rubber, tobacco, and quinine) will not. The scope of the journal includes all horticultural crops but does not include speciality crops such as, medicinal crops or forestry crops, such as bamboo. Basic molecular studies without any direct application in horticulture will not be considered for this journal.