Exogenous Postharvest Application of Calcium Chloride and Salicylic Acid to Maintain the Quality of Broccoli Florets
Hossam S. El-Beltagi,
Marwa Rashad Ali,
Khaled M. A. Ramadan,
Raheel Anwar,
Tarek A. Shalaby,
Adel A. Rezk,
Sherif Mohamed El-Ganainy,
Samy F. Mahmoud,
Mohamed Alkafafy,
Mohamed M. El-Mogy
Affiliations
Hossam S. El-Beltagi
Al Bilad Bank Scholarly Chair for Food Security in Saudi Arabia, The Deanship of Scientific Research, The Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Marwa Rashad Ali
Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
Khaled M. A. Ramadan
Al Bilad Bank Scholarly Chair for Food Security in Saudi Arabia, The Deanship of Scientific Research, The Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Raheel Anwar
Postharvest Research and Training Centre, Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Tarek A. Shalaby
Al Bilad Bank Scholarly Chair for Food Security in Saudi Arabia, The Deanship of Scientific Research, The Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Adel A. Rezk
Al Bilad Bank Scholarly Chair for Food Security in Saudi Arabia, The Deanship of Scientific Research, The Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Sherif Mohamed El-Ganainy
Al Bilad Bank Scholarly Chair for Food Security in Saudi Arabia, The Deanship of Scientific Research, The Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Samy F. Mahmoud
Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
Mohamed Alkafafy
Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
Mohamed M. El-Mogy
Vegetable Crops Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
The importance of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) 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 (CaCl2) 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% CaCl2 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 + CaCl2 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 + CaCl2 treatment could be helpful for up to 21 days.
