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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Microbial and Chemical Food Safety » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #389704

Research Project: Integration and Validation of Alternative and Multiple Intervention Technologies to Enhance Microbial Safety, Quality, and Shelf-life of Food

Location: Microbial and Chemical Food Safety

Title: Chemical inhibition of polyphenol oxidase and cut surface browning of fresh-cut apples

Author
item Fan, Xuetong

Submitted to: Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/28/2022
Publication Date: 4/13/2022
Citation: Fan, X. 2022. Chemical inhibition of polyphenol oxidase and cut surface browning of fresh-cut apples. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2022.2061413.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2022.2061413

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Fresh-cut apples, which offer consumers health benefits and convenience, have become popular in recent years. One of the main challenges for processing fresh-cut apples is rapid development of cut surface browning, immediately after fruits are cut. Browning, a physiological response that impacts organoleptic properties and deters consumer purchase of fresh-cut fresh produce, is mainly a result of enzymatic reaction of phenolic compounds with oxygen catalyzed by polyphenol oxidase (PPO), a decapper enzyme. Many antibrowning agents have been developed and evaluated to inhibit PPO activities by using reducing agents (antioxidants), chelating agents, acidulants, etc. The present manuscript reviews the diverse characteristics of PPO (such as optimum pH and temperature, and molecular weight) in apples reported in the literature and the enzyme’s latency, multiplicity and copper states in the active site. It also summarizes the latest development in the investigation and formulations of antibrowning compounds, and discusses future research needs. This review should stimulate further research to discover more effective, low cost, and natural antibrowning compounds to meet the demand of consumers as well as the food industry for clean label and long shelf-life of fresh-cut apples.