Enhanced storability of blueberries by acidic electrolyzed oxidizing water application may be mediated by regulating ROS metabolism

This study aimed to investigate the effects of acidic electrolyzed oxidizing water (AEW) treatment on storability and metabolism of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in blueberries cv. 'Brightwell' during storage at 4 °C. Results showed that, compared with the control blueberries, AEW treated-blueberries exhibited lower incidence of fruit decay, higher rate of commercially acceptable fruit, higher fruit firmness and skin hardness, and higher anthocyanin and total phenolics contents, along with higher activities of SOD, CAT and APX, higher antioxidant activity, but lower generation rate of superoxide anion and cell membrane permeability. These results demonstrated that AEW treatment for enhancing storability of harvested blueberries during storage may be mediated by regulating ROS metabolism, manifested as AEW increasing ROS scavenging capacity and reducing ROS accumulation, and thereby maintained the structural integrity of cellular membrane, which indicated that AEW treatment was a facile postharvest method for extending the shelf life of harvested blueberries.