Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Can Chitosan Applications in Pre- and Post-Harvest affect the Quality and Antioxidant Contents of Red Raspberries?

Ermes Lo Piccolo
* ,
Piera Quattrocelli
,
Michelangelo Becagli
,
Roberto Cardelli
ORCID logo ,
Hafsa El Horri
,
Lucia Guidi
ORCID logo ,
Marco Landi
* ORCID logo ,
Susanna Pecchia
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 13 September 2023 / Approved: 13 September 2023 / Online: 14 September 2023 (05:26:14 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Lo Piccolo, E.; Quattrocelli, P.; Becagli, M.; Cardelli, R.; El Horri, H.; Guidi, L.; Landi, M.; Pecchia, S. Can Chitosan Applications in Pre- and Post-Harvest Affect the Quality and Antioxidant Contents of Red Raspberries? Horticulturae 2023, 9, 1135. Lo Piccolo, E.; Quattrocelli, P.; Becagli, M.; Cardelli, R.; El Horri, H.; Guidi, L.; Landi, M.; Pecchia, S. Can Chitosan Applications in Pre- and Post-Harvest Affect the Quality and Antioxidant Contents of Red Raspberries? Horticulturae 2023, 9, 1135.

Abstract

Red raspberry fruit production is increasing worldwide due to the growing consumer interest in foods with high antioxidant properties. However, raspberries are very perishable fruit with a short shelf life. Chitosan applications have shown promising results in promoting the storage of different berry fruit. This work aimed at analysing the effects of chitosan applied in pre- and/or post-harvest on the quality and antioxidant properties of raspberry fruit during the cold storage and room temperature conditions (i.e., 6 d at 4 °C and 3 d at 20 °C, respectively). Pre-harvest chi-tosan applications reduced fruit weight loss during cold storage and room temperature condi-tions but also reduced fruit decay at room temperature conditions. Furthermore, pre-harvest treatments with chitosan increased the total phenol and anthocyanin contents and promoted the highest total antioxidant activity with respect to other treatments. Of note, after the cold storage, post-harvest chitosan application drastically reduced the development of fungi that cause fruit decay, thus minimizing the potential risk of mycotoxin production. Overall, this study demon-strates that applications of chitosan in pre-harvest are sufficient to ensure the goal of maintaining and/or increasing the quality and antioxidant properties of fruit during cold storage and room temperature conditions.

Keywords

anthocyanins; antioxidants; ascorbic acid; fungal decay; pre-harvest factors and susceptibility; storage

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Agricultural Science and Agronomy

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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