Cold shock treatment (CST) with cold water at 0 ◦C (40 min), 3 ◦C (20, 40 and 60 min) and 6 ◦C (40 min)
were conducted to evaluate the effects of cold shock intensity on the physiological activity of cucumbers,
respectively. Weight loss, firmness, antioxidant enzyme (SOD, CAT and POD) activities, malondialdehyde
(MDA) content and respiration rate were determined during storage at 12 ◦C and 90% RH. Results show
that CST caused a decline in weight and firmness loss, and increased antioxidant enzyme (SOD, CAT and
POD) activities and respiration rate of cucumbers. The storage quality of cucumbers with 6 ◦C water CST
was unsatisfactory compared to that with 0 ◦C or 3 ◦C water. CST with cold water at 3 ◦C for 40 min was
the optimal method for preserving cucumbers among all treatments tested. For improving cucumber
preservation quality effectively, the optimal CST temperature should be set below a threshold value
between 3 ◦C and 6 ◦C. The cold shock process can be divided into dynamic and static cold shock stage
according to the temperature change in cucumber, and cucumber should experience the whole dynamic
cold shock stage and appropriate static cold shock stage to obtain optimal preservation quality.
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