HU Junru, ZHANG Min, GAI Xiaoyang, LI Jiale, LING Yu, ZHENG Kai, FANG Jiaqi, JIA Miao, LI Qixun
To explore the effect of hot water treatment on the antioxidant system of cucumber in a non-low temperature storage environment, the changes in temperature and antioxidant system in cucumber under the environmental storage [20 ℃,RH (55±5)%,0, 1, 2, 4, 8 h]after hot water treatment (40 ℃, 20 min) were studied. The results showed that after hot water treatment, the temperature of cucumber in 0 h was 36.5 ℃, and then dropped sharply in the following 0-1 h. In 1-2 h, the temperature decreased slowly, and remained consistent with the environment temperature within 2-8 h. And the activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, SOD; ascorbate peroxidase, APX; catalase, CAT) and antioxidant substances (ascorbic acid, AsA; reduced glutathione, GSH) in cucumber were significantly increased during 2-4 h after hot water treatment, however, the content of cytotoxic substances H2O2 and·O2- were significantly inhibited. In addition, the cucumber fruits that were placed for 2 h after the hot water treatment and then put into the low-temperature storage environment which showed a low chilling injury index. Therefore, after the hot water treatment, the cucumber fruit should be placed at room temperature for about 2 h to improve the cucumber self-regulate ability and the antioxidant enzyme system activity.