Enhancement of antioxidant capacity of cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) fruit by postharvest calcium treatment

• CaCl2 treatment enhanced antioxidant capacity of cornelian cherry fruit.
• CaCl2 treatment remarkably enhanced total phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins as well as ascorbic acid contents in cornelian cherry fruit.
• CaCl2 enhanced phenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins contents by triggering the biosynthetic pathways.
• CaCl2 might be a powerful strategy to enhance antioxidant capacity of cornelian cherry fruits.

In order to enhance postharvest antioxidant capacity of cornelian cherry fruits, the effects of treatment with 0 (control), 40, 60 and 80 mM calcium chloride (CaCl2) on total phenols (TP), flavonoids (TF), anthocyanins (TA), ascorbic acid (AA) contents, DPPH scavenging activity and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) enzyme activity were investigated in fruits stored at 4 °C for 21 days. The CaCl2 treatments were effective in maintaining higher total phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, ascorbic acid contents, as well as DPPH scavenging activity. Also, PAL enzyme activity of the cornelian cherry fruits was significantly increased by CaCl2 treatments. These results suggest that enhanced antioxidant capacity of cornelian cherry fruits might be due to the stimulation of PAL enzyme activity and thus triggering the phenylpropanoid-flavonoids pathways.