CHLOROPHYLL DEGRADATION IN PARSLEY LEAVES STORED UNDER DIFFERENT ATMOSPHERES.

Abstract

Pigments in stored parsley leaves (Petroselinum crispum Nym.) were monitored to determine if degradative products of chlorophyll (chl) differed while under different types of atmosphere. The leaves were stored in a closed container under a stream of humidified air at 20C with or without 10 ppm ethylene and with or without 10 percent oxygen and 10 percent carbon dioxide. Analysis of pigments with HPLC showed that chl a and b decreased sharply with or without ethylene and the decrease was considerably less under CA. Chlorophyll a-1, the oxidized form of chl a, was initially low, and the level decreased slightly with all of the storage conditions. Chlorophyllide was also low, but it increased slightly during storage. Xanthophyll derivatives, which appeared to be the esterified xanthophylls, increased slightly during storage. These results indicate that chl degradation in stored parsley leaves was hastened by ethylene or suppressed by CA condition and the pathway of chl degradation did not appear to be altered by the different storage atmospheres.