Materials and methods
2.1. Plant material
Lemon basil (Ocimum × citridorum Vis.) is a hybrid of O. basilicum
and O. americanum. Seeds were sown in fine-silty soil. Plants were
grown in open air at an average temperature of about 26 ◦C and a
relative humidity of about 55%. Stems with leaves were harvested
60 d after seed germination. The stems and the attached leaves were
cut at 15–20 cm from the basal end. The material was washed in
100 mg/L sodium hypochlorite and air-dried at 25 ◦C (70 ± 2% RH).
Approximately 120 g of fresh weight (FW) was packed in 0.25 m
polyethylene (PE) bags (30 cm × 45 cm) each having eight holes
with a diameter of 0.7 cm. The bags were tied with rubber bands,
placed in plastic baskets and stored in darkness at 4 ◦C or 12 ◦C
(both at 80 ± 5% RH). At 12 h intervals, leaves were randomly sampled
for quality evaluation and biochemical measurements. Three
replicates (one bag each), consisting of 15–20 stems with leaves,
were used in each treatment. The material was frozen by dipping
into liquid N2 and stored at −70 ◦C until enzyme assays and fatty
acid determinations.