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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Food Quality Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #378302
Research Project: Integrated Approaches to Improve Fruit and Vegetable Nutritional Quality with Improved Phenolics Contents

Location: Food Quality Laboratory

Title: Preharvest UV-B treatment improves strawberry quality and shelf life

Author
item ZHU, XUDONG - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Trouth, Frances
item Yang, Tianbao

Submitted to: Horticulturae
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/31/2023
Publication Date: 2/5/2023
Citation: Zhu, X., Trouth, F.J., Yang, T. 2023. Preharvest UV-B treatment improves strawberry quality and shelf-life. Horticulturae. 9(2):211. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9020211.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9020211

Interpretive Summary: UV-B radiation has been used to reduce the incidence of postharvest pathogens, but no significant effect on fresh produce quality and shelf-life has been observed. In this study, we investigated why ripe strawberry fruits do not respond to UV-B treatments. The expression pattern of HY5, a UV-B responsive gene in fruit at different growth stages was analyzed. UV-B significantly induced HY5 in green and white stage fruits, but very little induction was observed in red stage fruits. These results suggest that UV-B treatment should be done before red maturity stage. Hence, strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch. cv Albion) plants grown in greenhouse were irradiated with UV-B for 1 and 2 hours every day from 5-7 pm. Fruits at red stage were harvested for quality evaluation. UV-B treated fruits had better appearance as fruit surface became lighter than the control. Total soluble solids and total phenolics content were higher than the control. However, there was no significant differences in total anthocyanin content and fruit firmness. Likewise, there were no significant differences between UV-B treatments (one and two hours) in any of the quality traits. During cold storage the UV-B treated fruits had better appearance and quality, and reduced fruit decay. These results suggest that preharvest UV-B treatment before the red maturity stage can improve strawberry fruit quality and extend shelf-life.

Technical Abstract: UV-B radiation has been used to reduce the incidence of postharvest pathogens, but no significant effect on fresh produce quality and shelf-life has been observed. In this study, we investigated why ripe strawberry fruits do not respond to UV-B treatments. The expression pattern of HY5, a UV-B responsive gene in fruit at different growth stages was analyzed after UV-B treatments. UV-B significantly induced HY5 in green and white stage fruits which was similar to plant leaves, but very little induction was observed in red maturity stage fruits. These results suggest that UV-B treatment should be done before the red maturity stage. Hence, strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch. cv Albion) plants grown in greenhouse were irradiated with UV-B lamp with an intensity of 0.7362 W/m2 for one and two hours every day from 5-7 pm. Fruits at red stage were harvested for quality evaluation. The results indicated that the UV-B treated fruits had better appearance as fruit surface became lighter (increased L*) than the control. Total soluble solids (TSS) and total phenolics content (TPS) were higher than the control. However, there were no significant differences in total anthocyanin content (TAC) and fruit firmness. Likewise, there were no significant differences between the UV-B treatments (one and two hours) in any quality traits. During cold storage, when compared to an untreated control, UV-B treatment retarded the decrease of L*, TSS, TPS and firmness sourness, and reduced fruit decay. These results suggest that preharvest UV-B treatment before red maturity stage can improve strawberry fruit quality and extend shelf-life.