Synergistic effect of zinc and denak (Oliveria decumbens) essential oil to extend the storage life of pomegranate arils

• Published in: Chemical and biological technologies in agriculture Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 27 - 21
• Main Authors: Aminzade, Reihaneh, Ramezanian, Asghar, Eshghi, Saeid, Hosseini, Seyed Mohammad Hashem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 22-03-2023; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Acidity; Agriculture; Anthocyanins; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Essential oil; Essential oils; GC–mass; Life Sciences; Oils & fats; Organic Chemistry; Packaging; Phenols; Plant Biochemistry; Plant Physiology; Polyphenol oxidase; Polypropylene; Pomegranates; Postharvest; Qualitative analysis; Soil Science & Conservation; Storage; Storage life; Supercritical process; Synergistic effect; Weight loss; Zinc; Zinc nutrition; Zinc sulfate; Postharvest; Zinc nutrition; Essential oil; GC–mass; Supercritical process; Storage life
• ISSN: 2196-5641; 2196-5641
• DOI: 10.1186/s40538-023-00398-4

Background
Semi-processed pomegranates are increasingly being used around the world. Due to their perishability, however, arils currently have a limited supply and distribution. The treatment of arils with zinc and denak essential oil (DEO) can assist in reducing the growth of pathogens and can contribute to an increase in storage life. Since zinc is nutritionally valuable, the experiment involved immersing arils in 0.8% zinc sulfate (ZnSO
4
) and packaging them in polypropylene (PP) containers. Then, labels were supercritically impregnated with DEO (25 and 50 μL L
−1
) in the packages. Sampling was performed regularly at 10-day intervals for 60 days of storage.
Results
Zinc and DEO had a synergistic impact on all indices. The treatment of arils with 0.8% ZnSO
4
and 50 µL L
−1
DEO caused the maximum total soluble solids (TSS), firmness, titratable acidity (TA), total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activity, and anthocyanin content, as well as the lowest weight loss (WL) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity.
Conclusions
In general, the effect of 0.8% ZnSO
4
 + 50 µL L
−1
DEO was most efficient for the increase in storage life and maintained the qualitative characteristics of arils. Also, it caused the zinc content of arils to increase 36-fold. This may be an excellent strategy to meet the body’s nutritional demand for zinc.
Graphical Abstract