An innovative combined water ozonisation/O3-atmosphere storage for preserving the overall quality of two globe artichoke cultivars

Effects of ozonised water, gaseous ozone exposure, and their combined treatments on microbiological and qualitativeparameters of two globe artichoke cultivars (Violet de Provence and Romanesco clone C3) were studiedduring storage at 4 °C. At the end of this period, microbial counts were significantly lowered. Considering thequalitative parameters, ozone can be successfully applied to cv. Romanesco clone C3 without significantly increasingthe respiration rate, while it could determine the acceleration of senescence in Violet de Provenceheads. The storage under ozone-enriched atmosphere improved the initial polyphenol content in Violet de Provence,while for Romanesco clone C3 it seemed to be opportune to interrupt the ozonisationwithin the 4th day ofstorage for preventing excessive losses of polyphenol content. The ascorbic acid reduction, for both cultivars,wassignificantly increased by postharvest treatments with gaseous ozone suggesting to reduce, also in this case, theexposure days to the gas.Industrial relevance: The globe artichoke is a herbaceous crop native to the Mediterranean basin, which gives animportant contribution both to agricultural economy and to human health due to the high content of promotingnutrients. Unfortunately, globe artichoke heads are very perishable because of their high respiratory activity, susceptibilityto weight loss, and microbial decay. In particular, fungal decay is one of the main factors affecting thepostharvest quality of globe artichoke and, so far, it is controlled by the application of chemical fungicides. However,resistance phenomena in microbial populations, growing public health and environmental concerns areurging for the use of alternative treatments. Among them, ozone is one of the most promising technologiesfromthe health and environmental points of viewfor its spontaneous decomposition to non-toxic product. In addition,it has emerged as a potential antimicrobial agent in the post-harvest treatment of fruits and vegetablesand is able to decompose pesticides and chemical residues. On the other side, the effect of ozone treatmentson other qualitative parameters, including the level of antioxidant compounds, is highly dependent on the commodityand storage conditions. In this view, the combined water ozonisation/O3-atmosphere storage representsinnovative and applicable postharvest treatments for globe artichoke, whose exposure time and concentrationsneed to be customized for each cultivar.