Effect of aqueous ozone on quality and shelf life of Chinese winter jujube

Abstract

Effects of aqueous ozone on winter jujube quality were investigated. Winter jujubes were treated with 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3 mg/L ozone in water for 5 min. The firmness, color, malonaldehyde (MDA), and other indicators were determined every 20 days. Experimental results showed that 2.5 mg/L aqueous ozone treatment had a positive results on keeping fruit firmness (~23%), titratable acidity (~29%), ascorbic acid (~41%), total soluble solid (~40%), delaying the color change, and the maturation of jujubes compared with nontreated jujubes, and reducing the maximum peak value of polyphenol oxidase activity (~10%) and prolonging the time to reach such a peak value (~40 days). Besides, an obvious reduction in MDA production (~36%) was observed after 100 days. Practical applications In view of the fact that winter jujubes tend to deteriorate at ambient temperature, a variety of effective methods, including low-temperature storage, 1-MCP treatment, modified atmosphere packaging, and coating edible film, have been proposed to achieve the better postharvest quality of fresh jujube. Recently, ozone, as a strong oxidant, has been widely used. In our work, we systematically explored influence of aqueous ozone on winter jujube quality. These results evidence the aqueous ozone treatment is an efficient tactic to improve the edible quality of winter jujube.