Effect of postharvest visible spectrum LED lighting on quality and bioactive compounds of tomatoes during shelf life
Lorena Martínez‐Zamora, Noelia Castillejo, Francisco Artés‐Hernández
Abstract
The objective was to evaluate the effect of visible spectrum LED lighting during shelf-life on physicochemical quality and the main bioactive compounds of Kumato® cherry tomatoes. Tomatoes were stored 13 days at 5 °C under white (W), blue (B), blue + red (B + R), green + red (G + R), and green + far-red (G + FR) LED lights. Darkness (D) was used as control. Tomatoes under illumination showed higher weight losses and firmness decreases (30–35%). No chilling injury was observed. B + R lighting increased the carotenoid content by ∼27%, while G + R and G + FR reported an increase ∼30% in phenolics. B and B + R showed the highest increase in the phytochemical biosynthesis (lycopene and naringenin, as main carotenoid and flavonoid found) compared to D and W. Conclusively, illumination with B + R or B during shelf-life is recommended to enhance the main bioactive compounds. G + R and G + FR, also reported to be good elicitors of the phenolics and carotenoids biosynthesis.