Artichoke flower buds juice and manna as a natural treatment for improving postharvest quality of fresh-cut apple ('Story') fruit

Natural treatments have received considerable attention during the last years as a method to preserve surfaces browning in fresh-cut fruit. Both manna and artichoke flower buds juice contain several polyphenols that could reduce browning on cut fruit. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the qualitative attributes of fresh-cut ‘Story’ apple fruit treated with 15% of fresh artichoke flower buds juice (FJ), 15% of both artichoke flower buds juice and manna (MFJ) and 15% of manna (MN). Color changes, antioxidant capacity, total phenols and sensory attributes were evaluated durng 10 days of storage at 5±1°C with 92% relative humidity (RH). Our results showed that FJ and MFJ treatments applied on fresh-cut apple fruit caused an increase of browning score and flesh color changes if compared to MN treatment. This phenomenon is probably due to the high polyphenol content of artichoke flower juice that caused a shift of apple flesh color from white to brown. Results enhanched that the use of Manna without artichoke flower buds juice on fresh-cut apple improved quality attributes by showing a consumer acceptability until 7 days of storage in contrast to other treatments.