Effect of Pulsed Ultraviolet Light on the Total Phenol Content of Elderberry (&amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Sambucus nigra&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;) Fruit

Ramesh Murugesan,Mark Lefsrud,Valérie Orsat

doi:10.4236/fns.2012.36104

Abstract

The changes in total polyphenolics in elderberry (Sambucus nigra) following treatment with various doses of pulsed ultraviolet rays (UV) were investigated. Four pulsed UV durations (5, 10, 20, 30 seconds) at three energy dosages (4500, 6000, 11,000 J/m2/pulse) were considered for the research. All treated elderberry fruits were incubated for 24 h at room temperature (25℃) following treatment to ensure enough response duration for enhanced development of polyphenols by the berries. The highest increase in total phenolics around 50% was found with 11,000 J/m2/pulse for a 10 seconds treatment while nearly 40% increase in total phenolics was found at an energy dosage of 11,000 J/m2/pulse after 5 seconds exposure. Even though most of the treatments indicated an increase in total polyphenols, some treatment expressed a decrease in phenolics content when compared to untreated fruits.

Highlights

IntroductionPlants are subjected to diverse types of stresses, such as drought, heat, ultraviolet light, pathogen attack etc. [1]
During growth and development, plants are subjected to diverse types of stresses, such as drought, heat, ultraviolet light, pathogen attack etc. [1]
Researchers have demonstrated the effect of ultraviolet light treatment to improve the shelf life of fruits by surface disinfection [49,50,51,52] very few have explored its effect on nutritional content and the concentration of secondary metabolites of health enhancing benefits such as antioxidants [53,54]

Summary

Introduction

Plants are subjected to diverse types of stresses, such as drought, heat, ultraviolet light, pathogen attack etc. [1]. Any changes in growth condition, of plant’s natural habitat, that modifies or interrupts its metabolic homeostasis could be defined as environmental stress [2]. Such changes in growth condition involve an adjustment of the metabolic pathways, aimed at accomplishing a new state of homeostasis, in a process that is usually referred to as acclimation [3,4]. Several different stages are involved in this acclimation and three different types of compounds are imperative for this process These compounds are mostly antioxidants or osmoprotectants, byproducts of stress and signal transduction molecules [2]

Methods

Results

Conclusion