Effect of three Cutting Ways on the Quality of Fresh-Cut Green Pepper During Room Temperature Storage

Fresh-cut (FC) pepper is favored by consumers all over the world for its convenience, freshness and nutritional value. Previous studies have mostly focused on the influence of preservation approaches on microorganism and quality control of fresh-cut green peppers. Yet, there have been few studies on how the cutting ways affect the quality and antioxidant ability of FC green peppers during storage. To investigate the impact of three common cutting ways (piece, dicing and shredding, corresponding to 0.90, 3.2 and 4 cm² g^-1 damage intensity) on the qualities of green peppers, sensory evaluation, weight loss, Vitamin C, chlorophyll, total phenols and flavonoids content were determined during 25°C storage for 3 days. Cutting operation caused fast quality deterioration, with shredding being the most severe. While the synthesis of total phenols and flavonoids was significantly stimulated after cutting, which brought about enhancement of 27, 26 and 43% of total phenols and 56, 60 and 83% of flavonoids in piece, dicing and shredding group at day 3 respectively. The above results indicated that the damage intensities significantly related with fresh-cut green peppers quality.