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Effect of Ultrasound Combined with Controlled Atmosphere on Postharvest Storage Quality of Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.)

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to quantify the effectiveness of ultrasound treatment combined with controlled atmosphere storage (UCA) in preserving quality of cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.) compared with the controlled atmosphere storage (CA) alone. The combination of ultrasound (especially at 200 W for 10 min) with CA (5% O2 + 2% CO2 + 93% N2) storage was most effective in preserving the fresh-like quality of cucumbers. The treatment reduced the loss in mass, firmness, soluble solids content and color, maintained cell wall integrity, and limited the redistribution of water in cucumbers. UCA significantly better preserved the flavor volatiles and retained the taste characteristics. This method also better preserved the intermolecular hydrogen and carbonyl bonding in aldehyde and ketone compounds of cucumbers which helped them to preserved longer. These results suggested that UCA can be a much effective preservation method than CA alone for fruits and vegetables.

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Acknowledgments

The authors also acknowledge the State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology (Jiangnan University, China) located at Jiangnan University for permission to use the processing equipment and analytical instruments.

Funding

This work was supported by Project “Jiangsu Province (China) Key Project in Agriculture (Contract No. BE2015310217).”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China

    Lei Feng & Min Zhang

  2. Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Advanced Food Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China

    Min Zhang

  3. School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China

    Min Zhang

  4. School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia

    Benu Adhikari

  5. Wuxi Delin Boat Equipment Co., Wuxi, China

    Zhimei Guo

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  1. Lei Feng
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Correspondence to Min Zhang.

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Feng, L., Zhang, M., Adhikari, B. et al. Effect of Ultrasound Combined with Controlled Atmosphere on Postharvest Storage Quality of Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.). Food Bioprocess Technol 11, 1328–1338 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-018-2102-9

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