On July 10th 2020, Dora Agri began the field trial of 1-Methylcyclopropene on blueberry to research the preservation effect of blueberry storage. Test data and results is in below.
Test results: 1-Methylcyclopropene(1-MCP) can effectively maintain the water content of blueberries, delay the decrease in fruit hardness, and maintain the VC content in the fruits. The color of blueberry fruits treated with 1-MCP is lighter than the control fruits, which can delay the formation of anthocyanins in the early stage of fruit storage. (More Details of 1-MCP)
In addition, 1-Methylcyclopropene inhibited the decrease of the total antioxidant capacity of the fruit during the later storage period and maintained the high nutritional value of the fruit.
Value of Blueberries and the Storge Problem
Blueberry originates from North America and is one of the rare true blue foods on the earth. Its fruit is blue, nearly round, aromatic, moderately sweet and sour, and has a unique flavor. Blueberry has a high nutritional and health care function. It is one of the five human health foods listed by the International Food and Agriculture Organization and is known as the “king of berries”.
In recent years, due to its rich nutritional value, it has been in great demand in the market. However, blueberries generally mature from June to August, which is the hot and rainy season. At the same time, blueberry fruits are not resistant to storage. Generally, they can only be stored for 3-7 days at room temperature, which greatly restricts the storage and transportation of blueberries.
A large number of related research reports show that 1-Methylcyclopropene can delay the maturation and senescence of fruits and vegetables. 1-MCP can inhibit the respiration rate and ethylene release rate of blueberries during cold storage, delay the appearance of peak respiration, and delay fruit softening.
Field Trial 1-MCP on Blueberry
1. Changes in weight loss rate of blueberries during storage
The weight loss rate of blueberries during storage showed an upward trend. When the blueberry fruits of the control group and the 1-MCP treatment group were stored for 15 days, the weight-loss rates were 8.50% and 4.87%.
The 1-MCP treatment can significantly reduce the weight loss rate of the fruit, which is mainly caused by water loss, which shows that the 1-MCP treatment can significantly inhibit the water loss of blueberry fruits.
2. Changes in VC content of blueberries during storage
The VC content of blueberry fruits during storage showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing, indicating that blueberry fruits still gradually synthesize VC during the early storage period. With the extension of storage time, the fruit matures and senesces and VC decomposes.
The peak value of VC content of blueberries in the control group and 1-MCP treatment appeared on the 12th and 18th days of storage, and the VC content was 50.95 mg/100g and 58.56 mg/100g.
The VC content of blueberries decreased in the late storage period. At 41 d of storage, the VC content of blueberries under the control and 1-MCP treatments decreased to 23.66 mg/100 g and 30.76 mg/100 g, respectively.
During the storage process, 1-MCP treatment can obviously delay the decline of VC content in blueberry fruits and maintain high nutritional quality of the fruits.
3. Changes in firmness of blueberries during storage
The hardness of blueberries shows a downward trend during storage, and the fruit tends to soften. The firmness of blueberries in the 1-MCP group was higher than that in the control group.
The difference between the two groups was significant after 3 days of storage, indicating that the 1-MCP treatment can inhibit the softening of blueberry fruits and delay the senescence process of the fruits.
4. Changes in color difference of blueberries during storage
In the early stage of storage, the anthocyanin content of blueberries in the control group was higher than that in the 1-MCP group, and the anthocyanin content in the control group reached the maximum value of 3.13 mg/g after storage for 18 days. The change trend was obvious, indicating that the control fruit matured quickly and senescence quickly .
The anthocyanin content of blueberry fruits in the 1-MCP treatment group changed more slowly than the control group, and the peak anthocyanin content appeared later, and the content was 2.50 mg/g at 24 days of storage.
The two treatment groups had significant differences on the 41st day of storage.
5. Changes in antioxidant ability of blueberries during storage
Blueberry fruits are rich in β-carotene, VC and anthocyanins, so they have high antioxidant capacity. The greater the FRAP value, the stronger the antioxidant capacity of the antioxidant.
In the early stage of blueberry fruit storage, the antioxidant capacity of blueberry fruit gradually decreased, and there was no significant difference between the control group and the 1-MCP group before storage for 9 days.
The antioxidant capacity of the two groups decreased significantly from 6 d and 9 d storage, and the decrease in the control group was greater than that of the 1-MCP group. The antioxidant capacity of the 1-MCP group was higher than that of the control group, indicating that the 1-MCP treatment increased the antioxidant capacity of the fruit.
Conclusions
The results showed that 1.0 μL/L 1-Methylcyclopropene(1-MCP) treatment could maintain the edible quality, appearance quality, and nutritional value of blueberry fruit, and had a positive effect on the cold storage of blueberry, greatly prolonged the storage and preservation of blueberry, and reduced the loss of blueberry in long-distance transportation. (1-MCP products and test blueberries are provided by Dora Agri.)