Elucidation of the mechanism of enzymatic browning inhibition by sodium chlorite

Sodium chlorite (SC) is a well known anti-microbial agent and its strong inhibitory effect on enzymatic browning of fresh-cut produce has recently been identified. We investigated the effect of SC on polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and its substrate, chlorogenic acid (CA), as it relates to the mechanisms of browning inhibition by SC. Results indicate that the browning reaction of CA (1.0 mM) catalyzed by PPO (33 U/mL) was significantly inhibited by 1.0 mM SC at pH 4.6. Two PPO isoforms were identified by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and both were inactivated by SC (3.0 mM). This suggests that SC serves as a PPO inhibitor to prevent enzymatic browning. Furthermore, the effect of SC on the stability of CA in both acidic (pH 4.5) and basic conditions (pH 8.3) was studied by UV–Vis scan and LC–MS analysis. The results showed that at the presence of SC (3.0 mM), CA (0.1 mM) degraded to quinic acid and caffeic acid as well as other intermediates. Hence, the anti-browning property of SC can be attributed to the two modes of action: the inactivation of polyphenol oxidase directly and the oxidative degradation of phenolic substrates.