Abstract
Baby mustard is a popular, yet highly perishable, Brassica vegetable. There is a need to develop effective methods for maintaining post-harvest qualities of baby mustard. Here, the lateral buds of baby mustard were packed in transparent polyethylene bags with no holes (M0), 6 mm in diameter holes (M1), or 12 mm in diameter holes (M2) and stored at 4°C. The effect of different modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) treatments on the sensory quality, health-promoting compounds, and antioxidant capacity was investigated by comparison with non-wrapped baby mustard. M1 and M2 delayed sensory quality deterioration and slowed declines in the content of ascorbic acid, total phenolics, and glucosinolates and antioxidant capacity during storage. M1 was most effective in prolonging the shelf life (three additional days compared with control lateral buds) and maintaining the content of glucosinolates. However, M0 accelerated the decline in the odor score, acceptability score, and ascorbic acid content and shortened the shelf life of baby mustard by more than 5 d compared with the control. These findings indicate that the effect of MAP treatment depends on the size of the holes in the bag. Based on these results, M1 was an alternative method for prolonging the shelf life and maintaining post-harvest qualities of baby mustard stored at 4°C.
Highlights
Baby mustard (Brassica juncea var. gemmifera) is a variant of stem mustard that has become increasingly popular among consumers for its aesthetically pleasing appearance and high levels of health-promoting compounds such as glucosinolates, ascorbic acid, and phenolics [1,2,3]
Several fresh samples were used for analyses of shelf life, sensory quality, and weight loss, and other samples were lyophilized in a freeze dryer and stored at −20◦C for subsequent analyses of phytochemicals and antioxidant capacity
Baby mustard gradually deteriorated as lateral buds shriveled and browned on the peel during storage, and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) treatments significantly delayed deterioration (Figure 1, Supplementary Figure 1)
Summary
Baby mustard (Brassica juncea var. gemmifera) is a variant of stem mustard that has become increasingly popular among consumers for its aesthetically pleasing appearance and high levels of health-promoting compounds such as glucosinolates, ascorbic acid, and phenolics [1,2,3]. There is a need to develop safe and effective methods for prolonging the shelf life of baby mustard and maintaining its sensory and nutritional qualities. Our previous studies have shown that low temperature (4◦C) storage can effectively maintain the sensory and nutritional quality of baby mustard [2]. Low temperature storage combined with modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) can delay senescence and reduce losses in quality during the storage of several vegetables, such as broccoli [4], lettuce [5], and freshcut watercress [6]. MAP is simple and economical method, and can prevent cross-infection [5] These properties suggest that MAP could have commercial-scale applications. There is a need to determine the MAP treatment conditions suitable for specific produce during storage
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