Abstract
Background: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of periodical UV-B illumination during red cabbage germination on morphological development and the phenolics and carotenoid accumulation. Methods: During a sprouting period of 10 days at 20 °C in darkness, seedlings received 5, 10, or 15 kJ m−2 UV-B (T5, T10, and T15) applied in four steps (25% on days 3, 5, 7, and 10). UV untreated sprouts were used as control (CTRL). After 10 days of germination, the sprouts were harvested and stored 10 days at 4 °C as a minimally processed product. Phenolic and carotenoid compounds were analysed 1 h after each UV-B application and on days 0, 4, 7, and 10 during cold storage. Results: The longest hypocotyl length was observed in T10-treated sprouts. The total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) increased during germination following a sigmoidal kinetic, especially in the UV-B-treated samples, which reported a dose-dependent behaviour. In this way, T10-treated sprouts increased the TPC by 40% after 10 days at 4 °C compared to CTRL, while TAC and TFC increased by 35 and 30%, respectively. Carotenoids were enhanced with higher UV-B doses (T15). Conclusions: We found that UV-B stimulated the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds, and a dose of 10 kJ m−2 UV-B, proportionally applied on days 3, 5, 7, and 10 days, is recommended.
Highlights
In recent years, food consumption habits have changed due to consumers’ new lifestyle, which tends towards healthier foods
The hypocotyl length of the 3-day sprouts grown in darkness (CTRL) was 0.25 ± 0.12 cm, while T10 treatment stimulated the growth by 82% (Table 1)
Periodical UV-B pulses at low doses improved the morphological development of red cabbage sprouts and probably will have the same effect on other sprouts
Summary
Food consumption habits have changed due to consumers’ new lifestyle, which tends towards healthier foods. The food demand is more oriented to diets based on fruit and vegetables, characterised by a high content of bioactive and nutritional compounds [1,2] In this way, there is a current trend of eating minimally processed vegetables harvested in the first days of growth (
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