Abstract
The European gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa) is still an understudied crop with limited data available on its biochemical profile and postharvest life. A variety of polyphenols were detected in the skin and flesh of 20 gooseberry cvs, representing mainly flavonol glycosides, anthocyanins and flavan-3-ols. In contrast, gooseberry seeds were for the first time characterised by the presence of considerable amounts of hydroxycinnamic acid glycosides tentatively identified by UPLC-QToF/MS. All cvs examined represented a good source of vitamin C while being low in sugar. Furthermore, the postharvest stability of bioactives was explored by supplementation of exogenous ethylene in air at 5°C. Results suggest a low sensitivity of gooseberries to ethylene. The overall quality of gooseberries remained stable over two weeks, showing potential for extended bioactive life.
Highlights
Gooseberries are deciduous shrubs being members of the Grossulariaceae family and genus Ribes like blackcurrants, redcurrants, whitecurrants and jostaberries (Bordonaba and Terry, 2011)
Ribes uva-crispa L. is a European species and the most prevalent species among the gooseberries found across the world
The objective of this study was two-fold: to explore the biochemical profile of different tissues of a wide selection of gooseberry varieties grown in the UK, and elucidate postharvest changes in biochemistry and quality characteristics for two gooseberry varieties held for 15 days at low temperature with or without application of exogenous ethylene
Summary
Gooseberries are deciduous shrubs being members of the Grossulariaceae family and genus Ribes like blackcurrants, redcurrants, whitecurrants and jostaberries (Bordonaba and Terry, 2011). The genus is comprised of more than 150 diverse species with currants and gooseberries being the most popular (Barney and Hummer, 2005). (synonym Ribes grossularia L.) is a European species and the most prevalent species among the gooseberries found across the world. The size of gooseberries varies as does their skin colour ranging from green to pink, red, purple, white, and yellow (Hummer and Dale, 2010). The commercial value of gooseberries is limited at present, mainly due to low demand and high cost of production especially during harvesting (Barney and Hummer, 2005; Dale, 2000). Other influencing factors include prevalence of crop diseases such as powdery mildew (Barney and Hummer, 2005) and lack of high yielding cvs (Pluta et al, 2010)
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