Tissue biochemical diversity of 20 gooseberry cultivars and the effect of ethylene supplementation on postharvest life

•Biochemical profile of English grown gooseberries and differences between tissues characterised.•Effects of exogenous ethylene application prior to storage were investigated.•'Scotch Red Rough' and 'Heart of Oak' where some of the cvs with the highest phytochemical potency.•Total anthocyanin content increased with storage time.•Exogenous ethylene did not negatively impact the quality of gooseberries

The European gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa) is still an understudied crop with limited data available on its biochemical profile and postharvest life. A variety of polyphenols were detected in the skin and flesh of 20 gooseberry cvs, representing mainly flavonol glycosides, anthocyanins and flavan-3-ols. In contrast, gooseberry seeds were for the first time characterised by the presence of considerable amounts of hydroxycinnamic acid glycosides tentatively identified by UPLC-QToF/MS. All cvs examined represented a good source of vitamin C while being low in sugar. Furthermore, the postharvest stability of bioactives was explored by supplementation of exogenous ethylene in air at 5 °C. Results suggest a low sensitivity of gooseberries to ethylene. The overall quality of gooseberries remained stable over two weeks, showing potential for extended bioactive life.