Packaging design affects antioxidant vitamin retention and quality of broccoli florets during postharvest storage

Consumer selection and consumption of lightly processed vegetables have dramatically increased over the last decade. However, more research is required to identify those storage conditions that will minimize nutrient and quality losses in these highly perishable products. The objective of our study was to assess a variety of postharvest storage treatments including: modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), ventpackaging (VP), and automatic misting (AM) on antioxidant vitamin quality, moisture, color retention, and peroxidase activity in broccoli florets over 6-day storage at 5 degrees C. Relative to the initial level, total carotenoids were retained fully in MAP samples, but a dramatic loss (42-57%) in total carotenoid was observed in all other treatments by 6 days. Vitamin C retention was best in MAP samples (similar to 100%); however, control and VP samples retained only 14-46% of this vitamin. A slight increase was observed in vitamin E content in all treatments except MAP by 4 days, then decreased by day 6. Peroxidase activity increased significantly in non-packaged (NP) and VP samples over 6 days, but no change was measured in the MAP samples. MAP resulted in the best retention of antioxidant vitamins, moisture and color in lightly processed broccoli florets during postharvest storage.