Therefore ethanol treatment was able to inhibit phenolic metabolism which is critical for tissue browning. Moreover, ethanol treatment was more effective than other antibrowning methods, such as cinnamaldehyde, heatshock and salicylic acid, for maintaining quality of lettuce stem discs. In short, ethanol was demonstrated to be effective for the dual functions of inhibiting browning and microbial growth during 14 days of storage and therefore has great potential for use as a commercial treatment for fresh-cut lettuce.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Ellen Turner and Bin Zhou for dedi- cated technical support and critically reading the manuscript. Use of a company name or product by the USDA does not imply approval or recommendation of the product to the exclusion of others that also may be suitable.