Metabolomic study of bioactive compounds in strawberries preserved under controlled atmosphere based on GC‐MS and DI‐ESI‐QqQ‐TOF‐MS

Abstract

Introduction

The storage of the vegetables products in a controlled atmosphere (CA) with low O2 and high CO2 concentrations, reduces respiration rates and delays the ripening process, and in some cases, improves their quality and organoleptic properties. Objective

To obtain deep insight into strawberry fruit metabolic changes caused by these CA treatments. Methodology

Freshly harvested strawberries were preserved under different atmospheres enriched with 10%, 20% and 30% of CO2, for 2 days at 0°C, containing in all the cases 5% of O2 and were subjected to a metabolomic analysis based on gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and direct‐infusion with electrospray ionisation source equipped with triple quadrupole coupled to time of flight mass spectrometry (DI‐ESI‐QqQ‐TOF‐MS). Partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA) was employed to compare the control and treated samples for the identification of altered metabolites. Results

Several metabolites related to CA treatment could be identified by databases and literature, which are mainly sugars, organic acids and phenolic compounds (bioactive compounds). Conclusions

Good correlation coefficients were obtained between discriminant metabolites and fruit quality parameters. These results suggest that treated strawberries under CA could be considered as bioactive healthy compounds, suggesting that treated strawberries under CA could be used as raw material for the preparation and formulation of food supplements and nutraceutical products.