Abstract
The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) processing on the volatile compounds produced in onion cultivars. The changes in the volatile compounds of onions were assessed comparing results observed while measured immediately and 24 h after PEF treatment using headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS). Significant increases in the concentrations of propanethial S-oxide, propenyl propyl thiosulfinate, 2-methyl-2-pentenal, dipropyl disulfide, propenyl propyl disulfide, methyl propyl disulfide, and methyl propenyl disulfide were observed immediately after PEF treatment. The concentrations of propenyl propyl thiosulfinate, dipropyl disulfide, methyl propyl disulfide, dipropyl trisulfide, methyl propyl trisulfide, and propenyl propyl trisulfide increased after 24 h compared to initial concentrations. It is postulated that these changes are due to PEF-induced cell permeabilisation that facilitates enzyme-substrate reactions after the PEF treatment.
Highlights
Pulsed electric field (PEF) technology has stimulated intense research as an alternative processing technique to achieve cellular disruption since the 1960s [1,2]
A total of 14 volatile compounds were detected in both control and PEF-treated samples, in addition to the internal standard and methanol (Table 1)
The volatile compounds detected in the onion cultivars can be categorised into three chemical classes: alkanes, aldehyde (2-methyl-2-pentenal), and the sulfur-containing compounds
Summary
Pulsed electric field (PEF) technology has stimulated intense research as an alternative processing technique to achieve cellular disruption since the 1960s [1,2]. PEF processing at electric field strengths lower than 2 kV/cm can modify the structure and texture of plant tissue, which can enhance mass transfer, thereby facilitating extraction of phytochemicals and improving the accuracy and energy efficiency of cutting and slicing [5,6]. Most of these phenomena have been studied on mechanically fragmented tissue sections such as tissue disks [7,8,9], tissue slices [8,10], tissue cubes [11], and tissue cylinders [12,13]. PEF treatment has been shown to produce non-uniform effects on the microstructure of intact tubers (e.g., potato and kumara) [14,15].
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