Total antioxidant activity
Total antioxidant activity showed an increasing trend during
early days of storage while at later stages (with progress in
senescence) it showed a decreasing trend (Table 1). Flavonoids
have been found to contribute to the antioxidant activity in
peppers (Larson, 1988). In the present study the unpacked
fruits exhibited high antioxidant content due to early colour
break (green to red), showing a sigmoidal curve, followed by
decrease in antioxidant activity during senescence. Anti-fog
(RD45) film packed chillies retained antioxidant activity due to
delay in the progress of senescence followed by polyolefin, PELD
and microporous film packed chillies during storage at
8 1 8C. The results were in good agreement with those
reported by Shaha, Shafiqur and Afandi (2013) for chilli
peppers at different ripening stages. Similar results were also
Table 2 – Physico-chemical attributes of green chillies at low temperature (8 W 1 8C) storage in different packaging films
(mean W SD n = 3).
Parameters Storage time
(days)
Control Microporous PE-LD Polyolefin RD 45
Ascorbic acid content
(mg/100 g)
0 54.44 0.33ax 54.35 0.45ax 54.39 0.45ax 54.20 0.83ax 54.59 0.24ax
14 25.38 0.75ay 27.84 0.89by 30.39 0.51cy 32.22 0.40dy 35.22 0.42ey
28 14.94 0.63az 15.50 0.46az 18.39 0.56bz 20.16 0.28cz 23.29 0.65dz
Total chlorophyll
(mg/100 g)
0 44.64 0.24ax 44.66 0.23ax 44.61 0.31ax 44.76 0.19ax 44.71 0.16ax
14 25.49 0.57ay 26.86 0.96by 30.8 0.65cy 32.76 0.55dy 34.28 0.43ey
28 13.45 0.50az 14.15 0.30bz 20.75 0.38cz 23.23 0.40dz 25.74 0.38ez
Total carotenoids
(mg/100 g)
0 4.61 0.28ax 4.64 0.91ax 4.61 0.15ax 4.68 0.08ax 4.70 0.20ax
14 21.77 0.41ay 19.38 0.53by 14.21 0.83cy 11.21 0.63dy 8.28 0.55ey
28 35.17 0.71az 33.11 0.71bz 24.12 0.31cz 18.60 0.55dz 12.46 0.60ez
CIE 0 32.68 0.08ax 32.74 0.15ax 32.44 0.12ax 32.60 0.15ax 32.38 0.18ax
L* 14 41.24 0.45ay 40.27 0.53by 37.24 0.47cy 34.24 0.52dy 34.29 0.86dy
Value 28 49.14 0.63az 48.99 0.57az 45.15 0.31bz 42.09 0.24cz 39.77 0.62dz
CIE 0 8.52 0.18ax 8.46 0.20ax 8.48 0.10ax 8.53 0.08ax 8.48 0.16ax
a* 14 24.41 0.71ay 23.36 0.64by 12.38 0.62cy 10.32 0.52dy 7.51 0.43ey
Value 28 42.16 0.90az 41.78 0.80az 28.21 0.66bz 21.25 0.46cz 15.13 0.72dz
CIE 0 26.78 0.05ax 26.68 0.15ax 26.69 0.25ax 26.61 0.25ax 26.17 0.64bx
b* 14 38.85 0.35ay 38.77 0.34ay 32.95 0.16by 30.20 0.41cy 27.21 0.39dy
Value 28 51.84 0.41az 50.74 0.41bz 46.10 0.29cz 41.02 0.78dz 37.34 0.48ez
Note: The first superscript letter (a–e) shows a significant difference ( p < 0.05) along a particular row, and the second superscript letter (x–z)
shows the significant difference ( p < 0.05) down a particular column for a specific attribute.
found in the case of blueberries during ripening (Castrejon