Received: 14 June 2018 Revised: 28 July 2018 Accepted: 29 July 2018

DOI: 10.1111/jfpe.12882

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Application of high-pressure argon for improving postharvest

quality of cherry tomato
Lei Feng1,2 | Min Zhang1,3 | Benu Adhikari4 | Zhimei Guo5

1
State Key Laboratory of Food Science and
Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Abstract
Jiangsu, China The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of high-pressure argon on postharvest
2
International Joint Laboratory on Food quality of cherry tomatoes. Physicochemical attributes including weight loss, decay incidence,
Safety, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu,
color changes, firmness, respiratory intensity, titratable acidity (TA), malondialdehyde content
China
3
(MDA), water status, and antioxidant enzyme activities were analyzed. Flavor characteristics of
Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Advanced
Food Manufacturing Equipment and cherry tomatoes were determined by GC–MS. The results showed that decay incidences of
Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, cherry tomatoes subjected to high-pressure argon at 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2 MPa were 27.03, 64.86,
Jiangsu, China and 45.95%, respectively, lower than that of control after 25 days of storage. Throughout the
4
School of Science, RMIT University, storage, high-pressure argon was most effective in decreasing weight loss, retaining color, firm-
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
5
ness, and TA content, reducing respiration intensity and MDA content, and inhibiting the redis-
Wuxi Haihe Equipment Scientific &
Technological Co., Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
tribution of water. Cherry tomatoes treated with high-pressure argon at 0.8 MPa maintained

Correspondence
higher levels of antioxidant enzyme activities including superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxi-
Min Zhang, State Key Laboratory of Food dase, and ascorbate peroxidase. The results of GC–MS showed that high-pressure argon treat-
Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, ment remarkably influenced the flavor profiles, characteristics of cherry tomatoes during
Wuxi, China.
postharvest storage. Therefore, high-pressure argon treatment may have potential application in
Email: min@jiangnan.edu.cn
preservation technique of fruit and vegetables.
Funding information
Jiangsu Province (China) Key Project in
Agriculture, Grant/Award Number: No.
BE2015310217; Government of Jiangsu
Province; Government of Jiangsu Province;
Government of Jiangsu Province, Grant/Award
Number: BE2015310217

1 | I N T RO D UC T I O N It is commonly accepted that inert gas such as argon can be dis-

Cherry tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) are an important fruit and
possess a number of beneficial nutrients, such as minerals, vitamins,
phenolic compound, and lycopene (Du et al., 2009; Islam, Shirakawa,
Nguyen, Aso, & Komai, 2016). Cherry tomatoes deteriorate rapidly
during storage due to its high percentage of moisture (Kipcak, 2018).
Therefore, it is very important to reduce decay incidence and extend
the postharvest life of cherry tomatoes. Currently, different treat-
ments, such as chitosan (Zhang, Wang, Hu, & Liu, 2015), methyl jas-
monate (Liu et al., 2018), and perillaldehyde (Tian et al., 2015), have
been applied to improve the postharvest quality of cherry tomatoes.
However, with the concern of food quality and safety to consumers,
the physical techniques have great importance for its superiority of
nonchemical residue.
solved in water at a suitably selected pressure condition resulting in
gas hydrates formation (Gaarder & Englezos, 1995; Wu, Zhang, &
Wang, 2012; Zhang, Zhan, Wang, & Tang, 2008). Currently, clathrate
hydrate has attracted great interests in the research of the effects of
preserving fresh-cut fruit and vegetables (Zhan & Zhang, 2005; Zhang
et al., 2008). Many researchers have showed that argon, as a low-cost
inert gas, under high pressure can extend the shelf-life and reduce the
quality loss of fruit and vegetables, such as cucumber (Meng, Zhang,
Zhan, & Adhikari, 2014), asparagus spears (Zhang et al., 2008), and
white mushrooms (Lagnika, Zhang, & Mothibe, 2013). These studies
reported that high-pressure argon at conditions of 0.5–1.8 MPa and
60 min could reduce weight loss, decrease respiration, and preserve
storage quality. In addition, argon significantly influenced activities of
enzyme to effect on browning and respiratory metabolism (Zhang,

J Food Process Eng. 2018;e12882. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jfpe © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 1 of 10

https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpe.12882
2 of 10
Quantick, Grigor, Wiktorowicz, & Irven, 2001). However, the effects
of high-pressure argon on postharvest attributes and flavor character-
istics in cherry tomatoes have not been reported.
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of
high-pressure argon on postharvest quality of cherry tomatoes, to
investigate changes of water status, to analyze antioxidant enzyme
activities (peroxidase [POD], catalase [CAT], superoxide dismutase
[SOD], and ascorbate peroxidase [APX]) and flavor characteristics.
The outcome of this work will lay out an alternative method for
improving quality maintenance in fruit and vegetables.
2 | MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1 | Materials and experimental design
Cherry tomatoes were collected from a greenhouse in Wuxi, China,
and were transmitted to the laboratory within 2 hr. Fruit of similar
color and size, same maturity, without mechanical injuries were cho-
sen. A pressure reaction device (CWYF-III, Jiangsu Huaan Scientific
Research Devices Corporation, China) was used for the high-pressure
argon treatment. Each time, samples were loaded into a 500 mL stain-
less steel treatment vessel and then argon was passed into the vessel
after the evacuation. Time taken to reach the target pressure was
approximately 30–60 s and depressurization took 30 s. Cherry toma-
toes were subjected to high-pressure argon of 0 (control), 0.4, 0.8,
and 1.2 MPa at 7  C for 60 min. After treatment, all samples were
stored in unsealed 25 mm PVC bags at 7  C and 90% relative humid-
ity and their properties assessed at storage days 0, 15, and 25.
2.2 | Methods
2.2.1 | Weight loss and decay incidence
Weight loss of cherry tomatoes was measured by an analytical bal-
ance (Farokhian, Jafarpour, Goli, & Askari-Khorasgani, 2017). Result
was determined according to the ratio between loss of weight and ini-
tial weight. Decay incidence was calculated according to the ratio
between number of decay sample and the total sample. Three repli-
cates were measured.
2.2.2 | Color analysis
The color of cherry tomatoes was measured with a CR-400 colorime-
ter (Konica Minolta, Inc., Tokyo, Japan). Lightness (L*), redness (a*),
and yellowness (b*) were determined (Carneiro et al., 2013). Three
replicates were measured.
2.2.3 | Firmness, respiration intensity, titratable acidity,
and malondialdehyde content
Firmness of cherry tomatoes was determined with a portable pene-
trometer (Handpi instrument Co., Zhejiang, China). Three replicates
were measured and the results were expressed as N.
For the respiration measurements, 900 g of fresh cherry toma-
toes per treatment was divided into three parts and enclosed in air-
tight glass containers. These containers were held at room tempera-
ture for 1 hr. The concentration of CO2 formed due to respiration was
FENG ET AL.
absorbed by 0.4 mol/L NaOH, and then determined by titration
method with oxalic acid titrated to remaining lye (Zhang, Liang, & Chu,
2017). Three replicates were measured and the results were
expressed as mgCO2 kg−1 hr−1.
To determine titratable acidity (TA), 10 samples per treatment
were mashed. Approximately every 5 g sample was mixed with
100 mL of distilled water, then, two to three drops of phenolphthalein
indicator were added. The solution was titrated with 0.01 mol/L
NaOH solution above pH 8.2 (AOAC) (Xiao et al., 2012). Three repli-
cates were measured and the results were expressed as mmol
100 g−1 fresh mass.
To determine malondialdehyde (MDA) content, 10 samples per
treatment were mashed and calculated using the absorbance of the
reaction product of MDA with thiobarbituric acid (TBA) (Khalifa, Bara-
kat, El-Mansy, & Soliman, 2016). The nonspecific turbidity was mea-
sured by subtracting the absorbance at 600 nm. The interference
caused by TBA-sucrose complexes was measured at 450 nm. Three
replicates were measured and the results were expressed as nmol/g
fresh mass.
2.2.4 | Water status and distribution measurements with
NMR and MRI
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and imaging (MRI) were used to
analyze water status and proton density images in cherry tomatoes by
low-field nuclear magnetic resonance analyzer (22.6 MHz, NIumag
Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China). Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill sequences were
used in the measurement. A21, A22, A23, and A24 were measured
which represented the percentage of the water in the cell wall, cyto-
plasm, extra-cellular and vacuole, respectively (Marigheto, Venturi, &
Hills, 2008). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on
whole samples. Each image was obtained as a sum of eight scans.
2.2.5 | Antioxidant enzyme activity
To determine the antioxidant enzyme activity, ten samples per treat-
ment were mashed and used to analyze the enzyme activities. Activity
of POD and CAT was determined by measuring the absorbance of the
reaction solution at 470 nm and 240 nm, respectively (Yang, Wu, &
Cheng, 2011). Activity of POD and CAT was determined as the
amount of enzyme units per gram of weight (U/g) required to increase
1 absorbance unit in the optical density at 470 nm/min and to
increase 0.1 absorbance unit in the optical density at 240 nm/min.
Activity of SOD was expressed as the number of U/g required to
inhibit 50% of nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) photoreduction at 560 nm
(Abassi, Kushad, & Endress, 1998). Activity of APX was assayed by
measuring the absorbance of the reaction solution at 290 nm and
defined as the amount of U/g required to 1 mmol/ml ascorbate oxi-
dized in the optical density at 290 nm/min (Nakano & Asada, 1981).
Three replicates were measured and the results were expressed
as U/g.
2.2.6 | Volatile compound analysis
Volatile compounds were measured by GC–MS (Thermo Fisher Scien-
tific, New York). 2.0 g of samples, 2 ml of distilled water, and 25 μl of
N-nonane (internal standard) were put into a glass vial (15 ml) and
FENG ET AL.
sealed immediately. Gas chromatography was performed on a 30 m
HP-5MS column with 0.25 mm internal diameter and 0.25 μm film
thickness. Injection and interface temperatures were set at 280  C.
Carrier gas (Helium) was used at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. The tem-
perature program was performed as follows: a first ramp of 3  C/min
up to 70  C, a second ramp of 5  C/min up to 180  C, and finally to
 
240 C at 10 C/min for 7 min. Mass spectra were used with an m/z
35–550 scanning range, and source temperature was 200  C. Volatile
compounds identification was performed with the NIST2005 and
Wiley 7 libraries.
2.3 | Statistical analysis
Experiments were performed with SPSS (Version 13.0, IBM, Armonk,
New York, USA). Data were evaluated using Duncan’s test at p < .05.
The results were shown as mean  standard deviation.
3 | RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 | Effect of high-pressure argon on weight loss
and decay incidence
Weight losses of cherry tomatoes during postharvest storage were
illustrated in Figure 1a. As storage time increased, the weight losses
increased in all samples. However, control samples had the maximum
of weight loss on the 25th day (1.77%), compared with the cherry
tomatoes treated with high-pressure argon. Moreover, the lowest per-
centage of weight loss was observed in cherry tomatoes treated with
high-pressure argon at 0.8 MPa (1.22%), which is obviously lower
than that treated with high-pressure argon at 0.4 MPa (1.69%) and
1.2 MPa (1.37%).
As shown in Figure 1b, all cherry tomatoes exhibited symptoms
of decay after 15 days of postharvest storage, and as storage time
increased, decay incidence of cherry tomatoes increased. High-
pressure argon treatment significantly reduced the decay incidence
FIGURE 1 Effect of high-pressure argon on weight loss (a) and decay incidence (b) of cherry tomatoes during storage. Vertical bars represent the
standard deviation (SD) of triplicate assays. Different letters mean significant difference at p < .05
3 of 10
during entire postharvest storage (p < .05). At 25 days of storage,
about 41.11% in decay incidence was observed for control samples.
However, at the end of storage, decay incidences of cherry tomatoes
subjected to high-pressure argon at 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2 MPa were 27.03,
64.86, and 45.95%, respectively, lower than that of control samples.
Being a climacteric fruit, cherry tomatoes are highly susceptible to
deterioration and often exhibit various symptoms (Ding et al., 2015;
Zhao et al., 2009). Our study showed that high-pressure argon treat-
ment was effective in reducing weight loss and decay incidence of
cherry tomatoes. Previous studies showed that inert gas could dis-
solve in water under suitable temperature and pressure condition and
further form gas hydrates (Makogon, 2010). The hydrates could dis-
tribute inside the cells, in intercellular spaces and in the middle lamel-
lae of such cells (Arunyanart et al., 2015). Once water molecules
become more structured, metabolism of product and water evapora-
tion decrease (Raymond, Zhang, Karangwa, & Chesereka, 2013).
3.2 | Effect of high-pressure argon on color
Color changes of cherry tomatoes during storage were given in
TABLE 1. As the storage time increased, L* and b*values decreased
and a* values increased in all cherry tomatoes. Compared with the
control samples, about 16.88 and 12.54% increases in L* values were
observed for 0.8 and 1.2 MPa high-pressure argon treated cherry
tomatoes, respectively, and the difference between 0.8 and 1.2 MPa
high-pressure argon treatments was not significant (p > .05). How-
ever, there were no significant differences in a* and b* values among
different treatments during postharvest storage (p > .05). The results
showed that high-pressure argon treatment at 0.8 and 1.2 MPa inhib-
ited darkening of samples during storage, and the treatments did not
significantly affect the redness and yellowness in cherry tomatoes
(p > .05). Similar changes have also been detected in the study of
fresh-cut apples, the results may be because high-pressure argon
treatment inhibited the reactions between enzyme and phenol sub-
strates (Wu et al., 2012).
4 of 10
TABLE 1 Effect of high-pressure argon treatment on color of cherry tomatoes during storage
Storage time (day) Control
L*
0 38.46  0.24 a
15 36.15  0.79 b
25 31.75  1.50 b
a*
0 17.24  0.93 a
15 18.58  0.89 a
25 19.22  0.83 a
b*
0 7.85  0.35 a
15 6.00  1.38 a
25 5.74  0.96 a
Three replicates were carried out for each group. Data points in the same line with different letters are significantly different (p < .05).
3.3 | Effect of high-pressure argon on firmness,
respiration intensity, titratable acidity, and
malondialdehyde content
Firmness of all cherry tomatoes decreased with the storage time
increased (Figure 2a). However, high-pressure argon treatment obvi-
ously suppressed the decrease of firmness during entire postharvest
storage. Especially, cherry tomatoes subjected to high-pressure argon
at 0.8 MPa had the maximum of firmness, and there were significant
differences between 0.8 MPa high-pressure argon treated cherry
tomatoes and other samples (p < .05). Firmness is associated with
storage property, which determines the quality of fruit (Wang et al.,
2015). Our study demonstrated that high-pressure argon could inhibit
softening of cherry tomato during postharvest storage.
As shown in Figure 2b, respiration intensity of all samples
increased at Day 15 and then reduced at the end of storage. However,
compared with control samples, cherry tomatoes subjected to high-
pressure argon treatment represented much lower respiratory inten-
sity. Obviously, the respiration intensity of cherry tomatoes treated
with high-pressure argon at 0.8 MPa was always significantly (p < .05)
lower than that of other samples during cold storage. Respiration
intensity is an indicator of metabolic activity, which provides impor-
tant information on storage quality of fruit and vegetables (Chung &
Moon, 2009). Reduction of respiration activity in fruit treated with
high-pressure argon might be due to the dissolution of the argon in
the intracellular water and reduction of the water fluidity (Ando et al.,
2009; Zhang et al., 2008). A previous study also showed that the for-
mation of gas clathrate reduced the level of dissolved oxygen and
inactivated some chemically active sites on respiratory enzyme (Zhang
et al., 2001).
TA contents of cherry tomatoes reduced during postharvest stor-
age (Figure 2c). However, decreased rates in high-pressure argon trea-
ted samples were much lower compared to that of control. TA
contents of samples subjected to high-pressure argon were always
significantly higher than that of control (p < .05). Moreover, the TA
contents of samples subjected to 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2 MPa argon treat-
ments were 1.79, 19.40, and 12.24%, respectively, higher than that of
control at the end of storage.
FENG ET AL.
0.4 MPa 0.8 MPa 1.2 MPa
38.46  0.24 a 38.46  0.24 a 38.46  0.24 a
37.01  0.28 ab 37.90  0.36 a 37.13  1.18 ab
31.82  0.36 b 37.11  0.79 a 35.73  1.25 a
17.24  0.93 a 17.24  0.93 a 17.24  0.93 a
18.54  3.71 a 17.38  0.89 a 17.42  1.18 a
19.19  0.86 a 18.92  0.87 a 18.95  0.83 a
7.85  0.35 a 7.85  0.35 a 7.85  0.35 a
6.52  0.45 a 6.86  0.96 a 6.81  0.54 a
5.76  0.75 a 6.19  0.96 a 5.81  0.91 a
MDA contents of cherry tomatoes during postharvest storage
were given in Figure 2d. As storage time increased, MDA contents
increased steadily in all samples. However, MDA contents of cherry
tomatoes treated with high-pressure argon were remarkably lower
than that of control after 15 days of storage. At the end of storage,
MDA contents of cherry tomatoes treated with high-pressure argon
were 22.35% (0.4 MPa), 32.97% (0.8 MPa), and 30.17% (1.2 MPa),
lower than that of control, respectively. MDA is usually applied to the
main indicator for monitoring lipid peroxidation attributed to oxidative
damage (Chen, Hu, Wang, Hu, & Cui, 2016; Glowacz & Rees, 2016). In
our study, the MDA contents of cherry tomatoes treated with high-
pressure argon were obviously lower than that of control, which indi-
cated that oxidative damage of cherry tomatoes was decreased by
high-pressure argon treatment.
3.4 | Effect of high-pressure argon on water status
NMR is a useful tool to probe water state and dynamics in food
(Techakanon & Barrett, 2017). Mobility and “availability” of water mol-
ecules are key parameters contributing to chemical changes and food
degradation reactions (Roudaut, Simatos, Champion, Contreras-
Lopez, & Le Meste, 2004). In our study, NMR was used to analyze the
water status of cherry tomatoes during postharvest storage. As shown
in Figure 3, four groups of water status in cherry tomatoes (A21, A22,
A23, and A24), which represented the percentage of moisture in cell
wall, cytoplasm, extra-cellular and vacuole, respectively, changed
among postharvest storage time (Lagnika et al., 2013). The results
showed that during postharvest storage, A21, A22, and A23 of cherry
tomatoes increased first and then decreased, and A24 reduced first
and then increased. After 25 days of storage, A21 of cherry tomatoes
treated with high-pressure argon at 0.4 and 0.8 MPa had no signifi-
cant changes (p > .05), while that of cherry tomatoes treated with
high-pressure argon at 1.2 MPa and control samples significantly
reduced (p < .05). Compared with fresh samples, A22 of cherry toma-
toes treated with high-pressure argon at 0.8 MPa significantly
increased after storage (p < .05). A23 of cherry tomatoes treated with
high-pressure argon at 0.4 MPa significantly reduced (p < .05), and
that of other samples had no significant changes (p > .05). A24 of
FENG ET AL.
FIGURE 2 Effect of high-pressure argon on firmness (a), respiratory intensity (b), TA (c), and MDA (d) of cherry tomatoes during storage. Vertical
bars represent the standard deviation (SD) of triplicate assays. Different letters mean significant difference at p < .05
cherry tomatoes treated with high-pressure argon at 0.4 MPa and
control samples significantly increased, and that of samples treated
with high-pressure argon at 0.8 MPa significantly decreased (p < .05).
MRI was applied to display distribution of different status of mois-
ture in the tissue of cherry tomatoes. This technique is an effective
detection method of water distribution due to its exact resolution (Yang
et al., 2012). Proton density images of cherry tomatoes during posthar-
vest storage were shown in Figure 4. The pseudo-color images of pro-
ton density will be redder if there are more hydrogen protons within
the given area (Shao et al., 2016). As shown in Figure 4, proton density
images of cherry tomatoes acquired on Day 0 were clearly visible and
revealed many structural details. After postharvest storage, tissue of
control samples changed considerably, the air spaces disappeared, and
the structural details were hardly identified. However, for cherry toma-
toes treated with high-pressure argon, the structural details remained
clearly visible after 15 days of storage. Especially, tissue of high-
pressure argon at 0.8 MPa treated samples remained clearly visible and
the contrast was obvious during entire storage time.
When a cell was submitted to stress, vacuole transferred water to
other cell compartments resulting in ensuring cell endurance. With
5 of 10
the storage duration, the membrane structure of cells was destroyed,
which increased the membrane permeability and generated free water
(Musse, Cambert, & Mariette, 2010). In our study, changes in water
concentration and distribution occurred with storage duration. The
reason might be due to degradation of cell integrity and structure dur-
ing storage, which increased the membrane permeability and induced
the moisture changes in different compartments (Donglu et al., 2016).
Previous studies also indicated that changes in water concentrations
and molecule mobility for fruits were associated with physicochemical
and biochemical changes, such as degradation of cell walls (Mazhar
et al., 2015). Our study demonstrated that high-pressure argon treat-
ment, especially at 0.8 MPa, could maintain the integrity of cell struc-
ture and reduce the change in water status during postharvest
storage.
3.5 | Effect of high-pressure argon on antioxidant
enzyme activities
As shown in Figure 5, CAT, APX, SOD, and POD activities were ana-
lyzed at the end of storage. CAT and SOD activities of cherry
6 of 10
FIGURE 3 Effect of high-pressure argon on the percentage of the water fraction in cherry tomatoes during storage: (a) A21, cell wall; (b) A22,
cytoplasm; (c) A23, extra-cellular; and (d) A24, vacuole. Vertical bars represent the standard deviation (SD) of triplicate assays. Different letters
mean significant difference at p < .05
tomatoes treated with high-pressure argon were significantly higher
than that of control (p < .05). APX and POD activities of cherry toma-
toes treated with high-pressure argon at 0.8 MPa were significantly
greater than other samples (p < .05). CAT, APX, SOD, and POD activi-
ties of cherry tomatoes treated with high-pressure argon at 0.8 MPa
were 97.40, 33.89, 93.48, 116.67%, respectively, higher than that of
control at the end of storage.
Senescence of vegetables and fruit has been correlated with an
imbalance between the production and consumption of reactive oxy-
gen species (ROS) (Imahori, Bai, & Baldwin, 2016; Soleimani Aghdam,
Jannatizadeh, Sheikh-Assadi, & Malekzadeh, 2016). ROS accumulation
can result in oxidative damage to biomolecules such as lipid peroxida-
tion, membrane damage (Koushesh Saba & Moradi, 2017; Shadmani,
Ahmad, Saari, Ding, & Tajidin, 2015). Plants have developed an effec-
tive antioxidant defense system, including the activities of SOD, POD,
APX, and CAT to prevent the accumulation of ROS (Imahori, Take-
mura, & Bai, 2008). Our current study showed that cherry tomatoes
treated with high-pressure argon had the higher activities of SOD,
POD, APX, and CAT compared with control, indicating that high-
pressure argon could maintain the activities of above enzymes in high
FENG ET AL.
level during postharvest storage. Positive correlation was found
between the activity of antioxidant enzymes and quality in vegetables
and fruit (Wang et al., 2015). The results indicated that high-pressure
argon could improve the quality of cherry tomatoes by enhancing the
activities of antioxidant enzymes and protect the fruit against ROS.
3.6 | Analysis of flavor characteristic
Fruit and vegetables can produce aroma volatile compounds to form
characteristic flavor, which are associated with quality changes during
storage (Zawirska-Wojtasiak, Goslin
ski, Szwacka, Gajc-Wolska, &
Mildner-Szkudlarz, 2009). GC–MS is a typical method for volatile
organic compounds, and has been applied well in various food ana-
lyses (Lee, Jeong, & Ku, 2017; Sun, Zhang, Chen, Zheng, & Fang,
2016). Based on GC–MS, volatile compounds of cherry tomatoes trea-
ted with high-pressure argon at the end of storage were evaluated in
Table 2. In our study, alcohols (12), aldehydes (4), ketones (5), furans
(3), terpenes (2), acetic acid (1), and 2-isobutylthiazole (1) were repre-
sentative aroma compounds in cherry tomatoes. Similar results have
been found in a previous study for volatile compounds, various
FENG ET AL. 7 of 10

FIGURE 4 Effect of high-pressure argon on proton density images of cherry tomatoes during storage. The color scale is calibrated in moisture
content

compounds, including aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, acids, furan, and volatile compounds, which is influenced by lipoxygenase activity
sulfur compounds, were identified in four different cultivars of cherry (Ties & Barringer, 2012). Thus, the reason for the difference in volatile
tomato (Xiao et al., 2017). compounds in cherry tomatoes subjected to high-pressure argon
As shown in Table 2, alcohols and ketones comprised the pre- treatment is likely due to reduction of the dissolved oxygen and inhi-
dominant volatile compounds, and two compound classes in control bition of the metabolism.
and 0.4 MPa, 0.8 MPa, and 1.2 MPa pressure argon treated samples
constituted 80.71, 65.81, 53.71, and 76.09% of total volatile concen-
tration, respectively. The most abundant compounds were 1-hexanol, 4 | CONC LU SION
1-octanol, (E)-2-octenal, hexanal, (E)-6,10-dimethyl-5,9-undecadien-
2-one, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, and 2-pentylfuran. Compared to In conclusion, our research suggested that high-pressure argon treat-
control samples, 0.4 MPa pressure argon significantly suppressed the ment was effective in maintaining the physicochemical and flavor
concentrations of alcohols, ketones, furans, and terpenes, while qualities of cherry tomatoes. High-pressure argon treatment was
increased the concentrations of aldehydes and acetic acid (p < .05). responsible for improving the postharvest quality of cherry tomatoes
0.8 MPa pressure argon significantly suppressed the concentrations due to decreasing weight loss and decay incidence, delaying the color
of alcohols, ketones, and acetic acid, while increased the concentra-
tions of aldehydes, furans, terpenes, and 2-isobutylthiazole (p < .05).
1.2 MPa pressure argon significantly suppressed the concentrations
of aldehydes, ketones, and acetic acid, while increased the concentra-
tions of alcohols, furans, terpenes, and 2-isobutylthiazole (p < .05).
Total volatile compounds of cherry tomatoes treated with 0.4 and
0.8 MPa pressure argon decreased by 13.85 and 15.92%, while that
of cherry tomatoes treated with 1.2 MPa pressure argon increased by
8.68%. Furthermore, 2-isobutylthiazole, a heterocyclic compound,
was one of key aroma compounds in fresh tomatoes and has been
described as tomato-like flavor, the content reduced in several tomato
products (Markovi, Vah, Gani, & Banovi, 2007). Our current study
showed that cherry tomatoes treated with high-pressure argon at 0.8
and 1.2 MPa had the higher concentration of 2-isobutylthiazole com-
pared with control.
Changes in the type and content of volatile compounds that have
FIGURE 5 Effect of high-pressure argon on antioxidant enzyme
an effect on the flavor characteristics were observed during posthar-
activities of cherry tomatoes after storage. Vertical bars represent the
vest storage of tomatoes (Díaz De León-Sánchez et al., 2009). In fruit standard deviation (SD) of triplicate assays. Different letters mean
and vegetables, the lipoxygenase pathway is the main creator of significant difference at p < .05
8 of 10 FENG ET AL.

TABLE 2 Changes in the concentration of volatile compounds of cherry tomatoes after storage

Concentration (μg/g)
No. Volatile compounds Control 0.4 MPa 0.8 MPa 1.2 MPa
Alcohols
1 DL-2,3-butanediol 0.099 b 0.018 d 0.041 c 0.140 a
2 Hexaethylene glycol 0.165 a 0.041 c 0.081 b 0.160 a
3 Heptaethylene glycol 0.015 d 0.053 c 0.109 a 0.074 b
4 Phenylethyl alcohol 0.282 b 0.287 b 0.173 c 0.332 a
5 1-Pentanol 0.310 b 0.135 c 0.147 c 0.414 a
6 1-Hexanol 2.048 b 1.312 c 0.871 d 2.246 a
7 1-Heptanol 0.348 b 0.444 a 0.173 d 0.312 c
8 (Z)-3-Hexen-1-ol 0.173 b 0.140 c 0.107 d 0.389 a
9 6-Methyl-5-hepten-2-ol 0.107 b 0.084 c 0.061 d 0.140 a
10 1-Octanol 0.439 b 0.312 d 0.368 c 0.546 a
11 3,7-Dimethyl-1,6-octadien-3-ol 0.104 a 0.102 a 0.058 c 0.089 b
12 Benzyl alcohol 0.208 a 0.180 b 0.069 d 0.119 c
Aldehydes
13 (E)-2-Octenal 0.028 c 0.784 a 0.586 b 0.033 c
14 2,4-Decadienal 0.013 c 0.058 b 0.142 a 0.000 d
15 cis-4,5-Epoxy-(E)-2-decenal 0.000 d 0.058 a 0.038 b 0.008 c
16 Hexanal 0.142 c 0.536 b 0.756 a 0.076 d
Ketones
17 (E)-6,10-dimethyl-5,9-Undecadien-2-one 0.731 a 0.416 d 0.457 c 0.629 b
18 6-Methyl-5-hepten-2-one 1.089 a 0.647 c 0.632 d 1.048 b
19 1-Octen-3-one 0.023 c 0.000 d 0.056 b 0.094 a
20 3-Octanone 0.279 a 0.218 b 0.195 c 0.165 d
21 Acetoin 0.312 b 0.340 a 0.170 c 0.000 d
Furans
22 2-Pentylfuran 0.802 c 0.492 d 1.231 b 1.365 a
23 trans-2-(2-Pentenyl)furan 0.020 a 0.000 b 0.028 a 0.018 a
24 3-(4-methyl-3-pentenyl)furan 0.000 b 0.000 b 0.013 a 0.018 a
Terpenes
25 3-Methyl-6-(1-methylethylidene)cyclohexene 0.063 c 0.061 c 0.084 b 0.142 a
26 á-Phellandrene 0.188 c 0.091 d 0.289 b 0.401 a
Others
27 Acetic acid 0.315 b 0.345 a 0.028 c 0.025 c
28 2-Isobutylthiazole 0.038 c 0.030 c 0.051 b 0.081 a
Total concentration by chemical class
Alcohols 4.297 b 3.107 c 2.256 d 4.960 a
Aldehydes 0.183 c 1.437 b 1.523 a 0.117 d
Ketones 2.434 a 1.622 c 1.510 d 1.937 b
Furans 0.822 c 0.492 d 1.272 b 1.401 a
Terpenes 0.251 c 0.152 d 0.373 b 0.543 a
Others 0.353 b 0.376 a 0.079 d 0.107 c
Total 8.340 b 7.185 c 7.013 c 9.064 a

Three replicates were carried out for each group. Data points in the same line with different letters are significantly different (p < .05).

changes, maintaining firmness and TA content and reducing respira- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

tory intensity and MDA content, inhibiting the redistribution of water, We acknowledge the financial support from the National Key R&D
enhancing antioxidant enzymes activities including CAT, APX, SOD, Program of China (No. 2018YFD0700303), Government of Jiangsu
and POD. Furthermore, high-pressure argon treatment remarkably Province (China) Key Project in Agriculture (Contract
influenced the flavor profiles characteristics. Thus, it is indicated that No. BE2015310217), Government of Jiangsu Province Key Labora-
high-pressure argon treatment is a potential method for preservation tory Project of Advanced Food Manufacturing Equipment and Tech-
of fruit quality. nology (No. FMZ201803), National First-class Discipline Program of
FENG ET AL.
Food Science and Technology (No. JUFSTR20180205), all of which
enabled us to carry out this study.
ORCID
Min Zhang http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8107-5212
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How to cite this article: Feng L, Zhang M, Adhikari B, Guo Z.
Application of high-pressure argon for improving postharvest
quality of cherry tomato. J Food Process Eng. 2018;e12882.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpe.12882