Effects of acidic and alkaline electrolyzed water treatments on the volatilomics and proteomics changes in fresh-cut apple during storage

Abstract

Electrolyzed water (EW) has shown potential to decontaminate and maintain the quality of fresh-cut apple; however, the underlying response of the product to this treatment remains unclear. Thus, this study aims to identify the possible quality regulation mechanisms of acidic electrolyzed water (AEW) and alkaline electrolyzed water (ALEW) treatments on fresh-cut ‘Granny Smith’ apples via volatile organic compound (VOC) and qualitative proteomics analysis during storage at 2 °C for 10 days. The results identified 43 VOCs, including 10 esters, 9 alcohols, 9 alkanes, 8 carboxylic acids, 6 ketones, and 1 aldehyde. The distribution of VOCs was significantly affected by the pretreatment conditions; fresh-cut apple treated with AEW was characterised by the highest number of esters, alcohols, and carboxylic acids, whereas samples treated with ALEW exhibited predominantly carboxylic acids, alcohols, and alkanes in comparison to control (untreated) samples. Ethyl dodecanoate, which was identified only in the ALEW samples on each sampling day, had the highest concentration among all the individual VOCs. The proteomics results showed that a total of 3434, 3401, and 3313 proteins were identified on day 3, 6, and 10, respectively, across all samples. Until day 6 of storage, no significant differences were observed among the samples. Notably, on day 6, “M16C_associated domain-containing protein” was shown to be unique to the control samples. KH type-2 domain-containing protein, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), and 1,4-alpha-glucan branching enzyme were unique proteins identified after AEW treatment at day 6 and 10 of storage. No unique protein was identified for the ALEW samples. These results provide the first report of the proteomic and volatilomic changes associated with EW-treated fresh-cut apple during storage. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD056621.