Effects of plasma-activated water on overall quality of fresh goji berries during storage

Plasma-activated water (PAW), the solution combined with a large number of active substances through plasma discharge. The aim of this study was to use PAW to treat goji berries and evaluate the effects of PAW treatment on storability, quality attributes and nutritive properties of goji berries during storage. The data indicated that, as compared to the control samples, PAW could increase the respiration rate and reduce the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), retard the occurrences of weight losing, and the growth of microorganism on the fruit surface, keep a higher rate of commercially acceptable. Additionally, PAW treatment could suppress the decrease of chromaticity values of L*, a* and b* of the fruit surface, maintain good taste and texture by keeping higher amounts of bioactive compounds, such as polysaccharides, polyphenols, flavonoids, vitamin C (VC) and beta-carotene, and delaying the fruits from becoming soft and sticky. These results demonstrated that PAW treatment could maintain higher quality attributes and nutritive properties, and display better storability of goji berries.

Automated summary

The results of the study demonstrated that PAW treatment significantly improved the storability of goji berries, reduced the likelihood of fruit decay, and maintained higher nutritional value and taste.