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Sanitizing after fresh-cutting carrots reduces the wound-induced accumulation of phenolic antioxidants compared to sanitizing before fresh-cutting.

BACKGROUND
During the production of fresh-cut products, crops are exposed to wounding stress, and as a stress-response, phenolic antioxidants are synthesized. This stress-response is elicited by extracellular ATP (eATP), released from wounded-cells and recognized by receptors of unwounded-cells. The phenolic antioxidants produced as a stress-response are beneficial for human health. However, a common practice in the fresh-cut industry is the application of washing/sanitizing procedures after cutting. These procedures could be highly detrimental, since they partially remove the wound-signal that elicits the biosynthesis of phenolics in plants. In this study, the impact of different washing/sanitizing treatments post-shredding on the wound-induced accumulation of chlorogenic acid (CHA) in carrot was evaluated. Peeled carrots were shredded and dipped in aqueous solutions containing chlorine (100 ppm, 2 min), hydrogen peroxide (1.5%, 2 min) or water (2 min). The content of CHA on treated carrots was evaluated before and after 48 h of storage (19 ± 2°C).


RESULTS
The control carrots sanitized only before peeling and shredding, showed 4000% higher content of CHA as compared with time 0 h samples. However, carrots treated with washing/sanitizing procedures post-shredding including water, chlorine, and hydrogen peroxide showed a decrease in the accumulation of CHA by 46.9%, 53.6%, and 89.9%, respectively.


CONCLUSION
These results demonstrated that washing/sanitizing procedures applied after fresh-cutting are potentially detrimental to the wound-induced accumulation of health-promoting compounds during storage of fresh-produce. Thus, the fresh-cut industry could consider avoiding washing procedures after cutting and implement alternative sanitizing procedures that avoid the partial removal of the wound-signal such as sanitizing only before cutting. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.