Ethanol added to washing water delays yellowing in Spinacia oleracea L. cv. ‘Matador’

Abstract

The primary quality concern for spinach and other green vegetables during post-harvest handling is preserving the green color, specifically by delaying the yellowing caused by chlorophyll loss. The current study, therefore, aimed to investigate the effect of ethanol added to washing water in low concentrations on yellowing, chlorophyll loss, and the storage quality of spinach. For this purpose, ethanol was added to tap water at 0 µL L–1 (control), 200 µL L–1, 400 µL L–1, and 800 µL L–1, and after pre-washing, the spinach leaves were dipped in these solutions at a temperature of 16–18°C for five minutes. The spinach was stored at 4 ±1°C and at 90–95% RH for 21 days after being drained, dried, and packed, and the quality parameters were recorded at seven-day intervals. As a result of this study, the decline in chlorophyll losses was obtained especially by the application of the 400 µL L–1 ethanol treatment after the first 14 days of storage, and this result was positively correlated with both the color values L*, a*, b*, hue, yellowness index (YI), total color difference (ΔE), and the chlorophyll SPAD (soil-plant analysis development) values. Consequently, adding 400 µL L–1 of ethanol to the washing water was the most effective in delaying yellowing and chlorophyll loss in spinach. However, this effect declined with increasing solution concentrations and was accompanied by weight loss.

Keywords

• chlorophyll loss
• green vegetables
• storage quality
• leaf greenness index (SPAD)
• spinach