Effects of 1-methylcyclopene and controlled-atmosphere treatment on the quality and antioxidant capacity of blueberries during storage

Abstract The effects of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment and controlled-atmosphere (CA) storage and their combination on quality and antioxidant capacity of postharvest blueberries were evaluated here. To investigate the most appropriate approach for maintaining fruit quality, blueberries were subjected to four different treatments, a control (CK), 1-MCP, 3% O2 + 10% CO2 (CA), and 1-MCP combined with 3% O2+10% CO2 (1-MCP + CA), then stored for 80 days at 0 °C. It was found that the applications of 1-MCP, CA and 1-MCP + CA were effective at delaying the increase in weight loss and inhibiting the decrease in firmness, total soluble solids (TSS) contents and titratable acidity (TA) contents. In addition, 1-MCP, CA and 1-MCP + CA treatment could significantly suppress MDA accumulation and relative electrolytic leakage promotion. Moreover, the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as O2- and H2O2, was reduced by all the treatment, which was associated with increased activities of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). Taken together, our findings indicate 1-MCP, CA and 1-MCP + CA have potential applications in maintaining the quality and improving the antioxidant capacity of harvested blueberries, and 1-MCP + CA is the most effective treatment.