article · Plants
Broccoli florets deteriorate rapidly after harvest, turning yellow and shedding valuable nutrients and bioactive compounds. Applying salicylic acid and calcium chloride as postharvest treatments helps mitigate this rapid decline during refrigerated storage at 5 °C. Over a 28-day storage period, florets treated with 2 mM salicylic acid alone or combined with 2% calcium chloride demonstrated significantly reduced weight loss compared with untreated samples. These treatments effectively slowed the degradation of chlorophyll, vitamin C, carotenoids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, and glucosinolates. In addition, the treatments sustained antioxidant activity and decreased peroxidase activity in the florets. The combined treatment of salicylic acid and calcium chloride proved effective in preserving overall quality and retaining vital antioxidant compounds for up to 21 days under cold storage conditions.
Broccoli provides significant health benefits through its vitamins, anticarcinogenic compounds, and antioxidants, but postharvest yellowing and decay limit its shelf life. Finding simple postharvest treatments that keep vegetables fresh and nutrient-rich in cold storage helps reduce food waste and ensures consumers receive the full nutritional and health value of perishable produce over extended periods.
This applied postharvest method could benefit vegetable growers, cold-storage operators, and fresh produce distributors seeking to prolong broccoli marketability. Applying salicylic acid alongside calcium chloride can extend storage life up to 21 days at 5 °C while retaining crucial nutrients. As an applied laboratory study, further testing under commercial packing line and distribution conditions would be required before adoption in real-world supply chains.
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The importance of broccoli (<i>Brassica oleracea</i> var. <i>italica</i>) consumption has increased in recent years due to its significant amount of anticarcinogenic and antioxidant compounds, as well as its many vitamins. However, broccoli florets are a highly perishable product which rapidly senesce and turn yellow after harvest, resulting in losses in nutritional and bioactive compounds. Thus, in this study, we evaluated the effect of postharvest exogenous of salicylic acid (SA) and calcium chloride (CaCl<sub>2</sub>) and their combination on the quality of broccoli florets stored at 5 °C for 28 days to minimize the rapid senescence of broccoli florets. Samples treated with 2 mM SA alone or in combination with 2% CaCl<sub>2</sub> showed lower weight loss and lower losses of chlorophyll content, vitamin C, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, flavonoids, and glucosinolates compared with the control samples. Additionally, antioxidant activity was maintained by either SA or SA + CaCl<sub>2</sub> treatments while peroxidase activity was decreased. For higher quality and lower losses in antioxidant compounds of broccoli florets during refrigerated storage at 5 °C, SA + CaCl<sub>2</sub> treatment could be helpful for up to 21 days.
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DOI: 10.3390/plants11111513
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