Food Chemistry 137 (2013) 151158

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Food Chemistry
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem

Effect of postharvest UV-B irradiation on nutraceutical quality and physical

properties of tomato fruits
Antonella Castagna a, Emma Chiavaro b, Chiara DallAsta c, Massimiliano Rinaldi b, Gianni Galaverna c,
Annamaria Ranieri a,
a
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-Ambientali, Universit di Pisa, via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
b
Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti, Universit degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 181/A, 43124 Parma, Italy
c
Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti, Universit di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17/A, 43124 Parma, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Nutraceutical (ascorbic acid and carotenoids) and physical (colour and rmness) parameters were eval-
Received 20 June 2012 uated in two tomato genotypes (Money maker and high pigment-1) subjected to post harvest UV-B irra-
Received in revised form 3 September 2012 diation at different ripening stages (mature green and turning).
Accepted 25 September 2012
UV-B treatment increased the concentration of ascorbic acid and carotenoids in Money maker esh and
Available online 26 October 2012
peel, while high pigment-1 fruits underwent only minor changes, suggesting that hp-1 mutation
decreased the fruit ability to respond to UV-B radiation. Colour parameters appeared to be more inu-
Keywords:
enced by harvesting stages than UV-B with the exception of redness (a), which in Money maker was
Solanum lycopersicum
Postharvest UV-B irradiation
found to increase in both esh and peel of irradiated fruits at turning stage, although not signicantly,
Physical properties while control was more red than treated at mature green stage. Firmness was negatively inuenced by
Ascorbic acid UV-B, as tomatoes were found to soften after the treatment, although this aspect needs further studies
Carotenoids to be claried.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Tomato represents the fourth and the rst most widely con-
sumed fresh vegetable in the American and European diet, respec-
tively, and it is the most commonly consumed as canned vegetable.
Due to the limited caloric supply and the high content of minerals,
vitamins and antioxidant compounds, tomato fruit represents an
ideal food which meets the basic nutritional requirements. It can
be therefore considered as a functional food, capable of providing
desirable physiological or health benets, in addition to the supply
of basic nutrients (Canene-Adams, Campbell, Zaripheh, Jeffery, &
Erdman, 2005). Tomato fruit is also recognised as one of the most
important source of carotenoids, especially lycopene, b-carotene
and lutein, as well as of other precious phytochemicals such as
other tocopherols, ascorbic acid and polyphenols.
Epidemiological studies estimate that adequate consumption of
fruits and vegetables may substantially reduce the risk of cardiovas-
cular diseases and specic kinds of cancer (Bazzano, 2006; Gundg-
aard, Nielsen, Olsen, & Sorensen, 2003). This holds true for
carotenoid-rich foods as well (Giovannucci, 1999; Rao & Rao,
2004). Increasing attention is therefore being paid to the possibility
to enlarge, or at least preserve, the concentration of health-
promoting phytochemicals of fruit and vegetables by molecular
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 (050) 2216605; fax: +39 (050) 2216630.
E-mail addresses: aranieri@unipi.it, aranieri@agr.unipi.it (A. Ranieri).
and non molecular tools. Among these latter, specic postharvest
treatments with elicitors, such as low or high temperature treat-
ments, application of phyto-hormones, ultraviolet and gamma irra-
diation, may enhance nutraceutical accumulation in plant food
(Schreiner & Huyskens-Keil, 2006). Modication of light intensity
and/or quality is particularly promising because of the pivotal role
played by light on some main metabolic processes involved in bio-
synthesis of phytochemical compounds. Ultraviolet B (UV-B) radia-
tion, depending on dose and plant sensitivity, may favour the
accumulation of antioxidant and UV-protective molecules (Jansen,
Hectors, OBrien, Guisez, & Potters, 2008). The mechanism of UV-B
perception and signal transduction has been elucidated in Arabidop-
sis and involves a number of transcription factors and multi-protein
complexes (Favory et al., 2009; Rizzini et al., 2011). Molecular char-
acterisation of high pigment-1 (hp-1), which exhibit exaggerated
light responsiveness, revealed that HP1 genes encode tomato homo-
logues of the light signal transduction protein DDB1a of Arabidopsis
(Liu et al., 2004; Mustilli, Fenzi, Ciliento, Alfano, & Bowler, 1999).
Previous researches demonstrated that UV-B screening during
in planta ripening of tomato fruits signicantly affected ascor-
bate, carotenoid and avonoid concentration in a genotype-
dependent way (Calvenzani et al., 2010; Giuntini et al., 2005,
2008). However, so far, little information is available in literature
about the effect of postharvest UV-B irradiation on quality of toma-
to fruits (Liu et al., 2011). These authors performed a sort of acute
treatment with different doses of UV-B (from 10 to 80 kj/m2) at the

0308-8146/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.09.095
152 A. Castagna et al. / Food Chemistry 137 (2013) 151158
beginning of fruit storage, leaving fruits to ripen in the dark and
showing that intermediate doses had positive effects on sensorial
quality and antioxidant capacity of tomato fruits.
In this context, we present the results of a different mode of UV-
B irradiation, applied daily until red ripe (RR) stage, at lower inten-
sity than used by Liu and co-workers (2011). The experiment was
carried out to evaluate whether postharvest UV-B irradiation was
effective in ameliorating some physical (as colour and rmness)
and nutraceutical (ascorbic acid, carotenoids) parameters of toma-
to fruits collected at two different ripening stages (mature green,
MG, and turning, TU). Moreover, the use of hp-1 mutant, allowed
us to verify whether LeDDB1a mutation inuenced the fruit capac-
ity to respond to post-harvest UV-B treatment.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Tomato fruit, treatment and storage condition
The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) high pigment-1 (hp-1) mu-
tant and the corresponding wild-type (cv Money Maker) seeds, ob-
tained from the Tomato Genetics Resource Center (http://
tgrc.ucdavis.edu/) were used. High pigment is a photomorphogenic
mutant characterised by exaggerated light responsiveness and ele-
vated avonoid and carotenoid content in mature ripe fruits (Liu
et al., 2004).
After germination and a rst transplant, the plants were grown
in 35 cm diameter pots lled with a peat/pumice/commercial soil
mixture (1:1:1 v/v), fertilised with 2 g/l of 28N-8P-16K controlled
release fertiliser and irrigated daily. Pots were located under a tun-
nel covered with UV-B transparent polyethylene lm. Healthy and
sun exposed fruits were harvested at two different ripening stages:
mature green (MG, 3540 DPA) and turning (TU, breaker + 3),
according to the procedure reported by Grierson and Kader
(1986). Fruits were randomly distributed into different climatic
chambers (18 C; R.H. 80%) each equipped with three UV-B lamp
tubes (Philips Ultraviolet B, TL 20W-12RS, Koninklijke Philips Elec-
tronics, Eindhoven, The Netherlands) providing 1.69 W/m2 at fruit
height (about 45 cm under the lamps). Irradiation was carried out
daily (1 h, 6.08 kJ/m2 d) until RR stage, which was achieved after 10
and 18 days for TU and MG fruits of cv MM, and after 13 and
22 days for TU and MG fruits of hp-1 mutant, respectively. Control
fruits received the same treatment but UV-B lamps were screened
by benzophenone-treated polyethylene lm, known to block UV-B
radiation (Fig. 1).
+UVB -UVB
UV-B lamps UV-B lamps + plastic film
RR MG MG RR
RR TU TU RR
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the experimental design. Fruits were harvested
at mature green (MG) and turning (TU) stages from plants cultivated under UV-B
transparent tunnels, placed into climatic chambers and left to ripen until red ripe
(RR) stage. One group of tomatoes was subjected to 1 h a day irradiation with UV-B
light (+UVB) provided by three lamp tubes, while the second group (UVB) was
maintained under the same conditions but UV-B radiation was screened by a
benzophenone-treated polyethylene lm. (For interpretation of the references to
colour in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Some whole fruits were immediately subjected to texture mea-
surements while others were carefully peeled using a scalpel. Flesh
and skin samples were inserted in falcon tubes kept in dry ice,
immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at 80 C for
the biochemical analyses.
2.2. Colour and texture analysis
Colour determination was carried out on four pre-selected loca-
tions of both tomato peel and esh using a Minolta Colourimeter
(CM 2600d, Minolta Co., Osaka, Japan) equipped with a standard
illuminant D65, covering sample surfaces by means of a low reec-
tance and very thin plastic lm. The instrument was calibrated dai-
ly before each analysis with white and black standard tiles.Peel
determinations were carried out on the whole fruit while for esh
measurements a portion of at least 25 mm of thickness was ob-
tained from peeled samples. L (lightness, black = 0, white = 100),
a (redness > 0, greenness < 0), b (yellowness, b > 0, blueness < 0),
q

C (chroma, C a 2 b 2 , 0 at the centre of the colour sphere)

and Hue (Hue angle, H tanb =a , red = 0, yellow = 90,
180 = green, 270 = blue) were quantied on each samples using
a 10 degree position of the standard observer (CIE, 1978).a/b Ra-
q

tios and DE DL 2 Da 2 Db 2 were also calculated for
each measurement. Four fruits were analysed for each condition.
Texture of tomato samples was analysed on the equatorial side
of the fruit by puncture test using a TA.XT2i Texture Analyser
equipped with at-tipped cylindrical probe (3 mm diameter) and
a 25 kg load cell (Stable Micro Systems, Goldalming, UK). Tests
were performed at 1 mm/s1 and tomato skin break force (Hd), ex-
pressed in Newtons (N), was quantied using the application soft-
ware provided (Texture Expert for Windows, version 1.22). Four
measurements were carried out on each fruit by varying the orien-
tation at intervals of about 90. Four fruits were analysed for each
condition.
2.3. Extraction and quantication of carotenoids
Peel and esh samples were homogenised under dimmed room
light in 100% HPLC-grade acetone with 1 mM sodium ascorbate.
Extraction procedure was repeated until complete decolouration
of pellet. The extract was ltered through 0.2-lm lters (Sartorius
Stedim Biotech, Goettingen, Germany) and immediately subjected
to HPLC analysis as follows. Separation was performed at room
temperature by a Spectra System P4000 HPLC, equipped with a
UV 6000 LP photodiode array detector (Thermo Fisher Scientic,
Waltham, MA) using a Zorbax ODS column (5 lm particle size,
250  4.6 mm, Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA). The
pigments were eluted using 100% solvent A (acetonitrile/methanol,
75/25, v/v) for the rst 10 min, followed by a 2-min linear gradient
to 100% solvent B (methanol/ethylacetate, 68/32, v/v) which con-
tinued isocratically until the end of the 28 min separation. The col-
umn was allowed to re-equilibrate in 100% solvent A for 5 min
before the next injection. The ow-rate was 1 ml/min. Pigments
were detected by their absorbance at 445 nm. Lutein, lycopene
and b-carotene were quantied using standard curves of commer-
cial standards (Sigma Aldrich Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO).
At any harvesting stage, carotenoids were extracted from peel
and esh collected from three groups of fruits each consisting of
10 berries.
2.4. Extraction and quantication of ascorbic acid
Flesh and skin samples were homogenised with liquid nitrogen,
resuspended in 5% metaphosphoric acid (1:2.5 w/v), and centri-
 A. Castagna et al. / Food Chemistry 137 (2013) 151158 153

fuged at 24000g for 20 min at 4 C. The quantitative determination
of ASA was carried out according to the method reported by
Okamura (1980), based on ASA-dependent reduction of ferric ions
to ferrous ions, which react with a,a0 -dipyridyl to form a complex
which absorbs as 525 nm. The total amount of reduced (ASA) plus
oxidised (DHA) ascorbic acid was quantied by reducing DHA to
ASA with 10 mM DTT. Data are expressed as lmol ASA/g fw by ref-
erence to a standard curve of ASA (Sigma Aldrich Chemical Co., St.
Louis, MO). Redox state was calculated as percentage of reduced/
total ascorbate ratio [(ASA)/(ASA + DHA)  100].
At any harvesting stage, ascorbic acid was extracted from peel
and esh, as for carotenoids.
2.5. Statistical analysis
Means and standard deviations were calculated with NCSS 2000
(NCSS Statistical Software, Kaysville, Utah, USA) statistical soft-
ware. NCSS was used to perform two-way-analysis of variance
(ANOVA) and TukeyKramer post hoc test at a 95% condence level
to evaluate the effect of harvesting stage and the presence/absence
of UV-B irradiation at a signicance level of 0.05 (P < 0.05). Tomato
harvesting stages (MG and TU) and UV-B treatment were consid-
ered as variables.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. UV-B inuence on concentration and redox state of ascorbic acid
The concentration of total ascorbic acid (sum of reduced and
oxidised forms) was positively affected by UV-B treatment in both
skin and esh of MM fruits and at any harvesting stage. In more de-
tail irradiation with UV-B light induced an increase in ascorbic acid
levels of about 41% and 34% in MM skin of fruits harvested at MG
or TU stage, respectively, and of about 72% and 24% in MM esh at
MG and TU harvesting stage (Fig. 2A). The higher increment in
ascorbate accumulation observed in UVB-treated fruits harvested
at MG stage as compared to TU stage, particularly evident in the
esh, probably derives from the longer permanence within cham-
bers (20 and 14 days for MG and TU berries, respectively) and, con-
sequently, to the higher UV-B dose received in comparison to TU
fruits.
In contrast with our results about the positive effect played by
UV-B radiation on ascorbate accumulation in MM fruits, Liu et al.
(2011) observed a decrease of ascorbic acid during ripening of
UVB-treated tomato berries harvested at MG stage, occurring at
any UV-B dose applied. Such a result could depend on a different
sensitivity to UV-B radiation by different tomato genotypes as well
as on the different protocol of UV-B irradiation. In fact, Liu and co-
workers (2011) treated fruits for a short period with high UV-B
doses (10, 20, 40, 80 kJ m2) at the beginning of fruit storage, while
in the present experiment tomato fruits were irradiated one hour a
day with a lower intensity until full ripening, reaching, in MM and
hp-1 fruits respectively, a nal dose of 60 and 90 kJ m2 (fruits har-
vested at MG stage) and 112 and 140 kJ m2 (fruits harvested at TU
stage).
Differently from MM fruits, no signicant change was observed
in hp-1 peel while in the esh of MG fruits ascorbic acid concentra-
tion slightly decreased (9%) in comparison to non-irradiated
fruits (Fig. 3A). Independently from the effect induced on ascorbic
acid content, UV-B treatment did not inuence redox state, which

A B
Total ascorbate (mg 100 g-1 fw)

-UVB +UVB -UVB +UVB

60 60
a

40
b 40
c a
d c b
20 20 c

0 0
MG TU MG TU
MM peel MM flesh

Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B

C -UVB +UVB D -UVB +UVB

100 100
Redox state (%)

75 75

50 50

25 25

0 0
MG TU MG TU
MM peel MM flesh

Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B
n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s.

Fig. 2. Concentration of total ascorbic acid (A, B), calculated as the sum of reduced and oxidised forms (mg/100 g f.w), and ascorbate redox state (C, D), calculated as
percentage of reduced/total ascorbic acid ratio, of peel (A, C) and esh (B, D) of Money Maker (MM) tomato fruits harvested at mature green (MG) and turning (TU) stages and
left to ripen in the presence (+UVB) or absence (UVB) of UV-B radiation. Data represent the mean of 3 replicates SE. Statistically signicant differences were evaluated by
two-way ANOVA (P < 0.05) and different letters indicate signicantly different values according to TukeyKramer test.
154 A. Castagna et al. / Food Chemistry 137 (2013) 151158

remained very high in both tomato lines and in each tissue (Fig. 2C,
D and Fig. 3C, D).
UV-B ability to inuence ascorbate accumulation in tomato
fruits has been previously observed in UVB-shielding experiments,
carried out by growing plants under tunnels covered with different
plastic lms allowing transmittance of all the solar radiation or
selectively blocking UV-B rays (Giuntini et al., 2005). In this last pa-
per a decrease of ascorbate concentration occurred in hp-1 fruits
following UV-B screening, suggesting that UV-B radiation could
differently inuence ascorbate metabolism depending on ripening
conditions (in planta or in postharvest).
3.2. UV-B inuence on carotenoid concentration
Harvesting stage scarcely inuenced carotenoid concentration
of MM fruits, only lycopene being slightly higher in both peel
and esh of berries harvested at TU stage (Fig. 4C and D). Post-
harvest UV-B irradiation resulted effective in enhancing lycopene
and b-carotene concentration in MM peel, independently form
the harvesting stage, leading to an average increment of about
40% for lycopene, and 72% for b-carotene in comparison to not irra-
diated berries (Fig. 4C and E).
Lutein concentration of MM peel underwent a signicant in-
crease only when fruits were harvested at MG stage (+58%,
Fig. 4A). In MM esh, lycopene concentration was signicantly af-
fected by harvesting stage, UV-B treatment and their interaction
(Fig. 4D). In more detail, red ripe fruits harvested at TU stage were
richer in esh lycopene than when collected at MG stage (+35%)
while UV-B irradiation induced an increased accumulation of lyco-
pene, which was higher in TU than in MG esh (+125% and +81% in
comparison to their respective controls, Fig. 4D). No inuence of
UV-B treatment was observed as far as lutein and b-carotene are
concerned (Fig. 4B and F).
Similar to our ndings, Liu et al. (2011) observed a higher lyco-
pene concentration in tomato fruits after UV-B treatment in com-
parison with control at 37 days. The positive effect of UV-B
radiation on carotenoid accumulation in MM fruits was conrmed
by the nding that UV-B deprivation during in planta ripening in-
duced a decrease in the concentration of peel and esh lycopene
and of peel lutein, even if b-carotene behaved in the opposite
way (Lazzeri et al., 2012).
Hp-1 mutant, characterised by a noteworthy higher carotenoid
concentration than MM, did not experience any inuence of UV-
B irradiation (Fig. 5), with the exception of a modest decrease in
esh lutein concentration, in particular in MG fruits (17%;
Fig. 5B). The behaviour of hp-1 carotenoids resembles that shown
by ascorbate, which was unaffected by UV-B treatment in the peel
and slightly diminished in the esh. In hp-1 esh, all carotenoids
were less concentrated when fruits were harvested at TU stage,
the percentage of decrease in respect to MG fruits ranging from
21% for lutein, to 28% for b-carotene and 34% for lycopene
(Fig. 5B, D and F). Previous works dealing with carotenoid concen-
tration of whole berry or of peel of fruits ripened under UVB-
shielded tunnels conrm the lower sensitivity of hp-1 genotype
to UV-B radiation (Giuntini et al., 2005). Moreover, the expression
level of carotenoid biosynthetic genes of hp-1 revealed minor dif-
ferences between control and UV-B-depleted fruits in respect to
MM in both peel and esh tissues (Lazzeri et al., 2012), conrming
the need of a functional LeDDB1-a gene to respond to changes in
UV-B levels.

A -UVB +UVB
B -UVB +UVB
Total ascorbate (mg 100 g-1 fw)

60 60
a b
40 40 c
c

20 20

0 0
MG TU MG TU
HP-1 peel HP-1 flesh

Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B
n.s. n.s.

C -UVB +UVB D -UVB +UVB

100 100
Redox state (%)

75 75

50 50

25 25

0 0
MG TU MG TU
HP-1 peel HP-1 flesh

Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B
n.s. n.s n.s. * n.s. n.s.

Fig. 3. Concentration of total ascorbic acid (A, B), calculated as the sum of reduced and oxidised forms (mg/100 g f.w), and ascorbate redox state (C, D), calculated as
percentage of reduced/total ascorbic acid ratio, of peel (A, C) and esh (B, D) of high pigment-1 (hp-1) tomato fruits harvested at mature green (MG) and turning (TU) stages
and left to ripen in the presence (+UVB) or absence (UVB) of UV-B radiation. Data represent the mean of 3 replicates SE. Statistically signicant differences were evaluated
by two-way ANOVA (P < 0.05) and different letters indicate signicantly different values according to TukeyKramer test.
 A. Castagna et al. / Food Chemistry 137 (2013) 151158 155

A -UVB +UVB B -UVB +UVB

4 1

lutein (mg 100 g-1 fw)

3
a ab 0.8

b b 0.6
2
0.4
1 0.2
0 0
MG TU MG TU
MM peel MM flesh

Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B
* n.s. * n.s. n.s. n.s.

-UVB +UVB -UVB +UVB

C D
lycopene (mg 100 g-1 fw)

80 20

60 15 a

40 10
b
c c
20 5

0 0
MG TU MG TU
MM peel MM flesh

Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B
* * n.s. * * *

-UVB +UVB -UVB +UVB

E F
-carotene (mg 100 g-1 fw)

60 6

40 4

20 2

0 0
MG TU MG TU
MM peel MM flesh

Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) A x B
* n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s.

Fig. 4. Concentration of lutein (A, B), lycopene (C, D) and b-carotene (E. F), expressed as mg/100 g f.w, of peel (A, C, E) and esh (B, D, F) of Money Maker (MM) tomato fruits
harvested at mature green (MG) and turning (TU) stages and left to ripen in the presence (+UVB) or absence (UVB) of UV-B radiation. Data represent the mean of 3
replicates SE. Statistically signicant differences were evaluated by two-way ANOVA (P < 0.05) and different letters indicate signicantly different values according to
TukeyKramer test.

3.3. UV-B inuence on colour and texture
Colour parameters measured on both tomato peel and esh are
summarized in Table 1 where texture data for both genotypes were
also shown. Lightness (L), yellowness (b) and chroma (C) of toma-
to peel showed to be inuenced by harvesting stage for MM, being
signicantly higher at MG stage for the untreated fruit. On the
other hand, a (redness) was inuenced by both harvesting stage
and UVB treatment with signicantly higher values for MG and
TU stages for untreated and irradiated sample, respectively. Toma-
to surface colour is well known to be related to carotenoids; in par-
ticular, lycopene was found to be correlated to L decrease and a
increase during maturation, while b value reected b-carotene
synthesis (Arias, Lee, Logendra, & Janes, 2000). In this study, this
relation was found only for a and b parameters at TU stage; irra-
diated tomato peel were found to be more red and yellow than
control, although not signicantly (Table 1), in relation with in-
crease of lycopene, b-carotene and lutein (Fig. 4A, C and E).
The other genotype (hp-1) exhibited a great inuence of har-
vesting stage on all colour parameters of peel, except for a, which
appeared to be inuenced by both variables, too. Fruits collected at
TU stage showed a good correlation between colour indices and
carotenoid concentration (namely lycopene and b-carotene,
Fig. 5C and E), both parameters being unaffected by UV-B irradia-
tion. Conversely, a signicant increase for a was found at MG stage
on irradiated samples.
Liu et al. (2011) observed an effect of UV-B irradiation on a/b
ratio for tomato surface, which was found to be higher in irradiated
156 A. Castagna et al. / Food Chemistry 137 (2013) 151158

-UVB +UVB
A -UVB +UVB
4
B
12

lutein (mg 100 g-1 fw)

3
9
a
2 b c bc
6
1
3
0
0
MG TU
MG TU
HP-1 flesh
HP-1 peel

Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) AxB Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) AxB
n.s. n.s. n.s. * * *

C -UVB +UVB D -UVB +UVB

lycopene (mg 100 g-1 fw)

100 30 a
ab
80 c
20 bc
60
40
10
20
0 0
MG TU MG TU
HP-1 peel HP-1 flesh

Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) AxB Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) AxB
n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. * *

-UVB +UVB -UVB +UVB

E F
-carotene (mg 100 g-1 fw)

200 30

150
20
100
10
50

0 0
MG TU MG TU
HP-1 peel HP-1 flesh

Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) AxB Light (A) Harvesting stage (B) AxB
n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. * n.s.

Fig. 5. Concentration of lutein (A, B), lycopene (C, D) and b-carotene (E. F), expressed as mg/100 g f.w, of peel (A, C, E) and esh (B, D, F) of high pigment-1 (hp-1) tomato fruits
harvested at mature green (MG) and turning (TU) stages and left to ripen in the presence (+UVB) or absence (UVB) of UV-B radiation. Data represent the mean of 3
replicates SE. Statistically signicant differences were evaluated by two-way ANOVA (P < 0.05) and different letters indicate signicantly different values according to
TukeyKramer test.

samples than untreated fruits after 14 days of harvesting starting
from MG stage (cv. Zhenfen 202), although lycopene content was
signicantly lower after UV B irradiation than control. An earlier
reddening of fruit measured by a sensorial test was also reported
for other tomato genotypes UV-B irradiated in plants (Bacci,
Grifoni, Sabatini, & Zipoli, 1999).
DE, which is related to colour difference perception of human
eye, was also calculated between treated and untreated peel sam-
ples; values of 7.8 1.0 and 5.3 0.8 were obtained for MG and TU,
respectively, for MM variety. hp-1 showed DE values slightly low-
er than MM (5.7 1.6 and 3.9 1.0 for MG and TU, respectively)
with MG exhibiting a more marked colour differences than TU,
too, between treated and untreated samples. Obtained DEvalues
are higher than 3, which is assumed as the value of colour differ-
ence distinguishable by the human eyes.
Colour of esh was also measured and summarized in Table 1.
In this case, both variables inuenced all colour parameters with
the exception of H and a/b ratio for MM, which showed signi-
cantly higher L, a, b and C values for control sample at MG stage.
On the other hand, in UV-B treated fruits at TU harvesting stage, a
was found to increase, although not signicantly, in comparison
with control and in accordance with the detected increase of lyco-
pene (Fig. 4D), as for peel. In TU, b was found to increase, too,
although, such an increment was not accompanied by a parallel in-
crease in the concentration of the other carotenoids, as instead ob-
served in the peel.
 A. Castagna et al. / Food Chemistry 137 (2013) 151158 157

L and b were inuenced by both harvesting stage and treat-

Standard deviation given in parenthesis (n = 4; sample size = 4). Different letters indicate signicantly different values according to TukeyKramer test and asterisks ( ) indicates statistically signicant differences at P < 0.05.
stage  UVB ment condition in hp-1 esh, which exhibited signicantly higher
values for irradiated sample at TU stage in comparison with con-

0.017

0.041
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001

0.005
0.322

0.318

0.139
0.290

0.093
trol. These results could be related to the slight, not signicant, de-
crease in lycopene (L) and increase in b-carotene content (b),

found for this sample (Fig. 5D and F), in accordance with the rela-

0.033
0.044

0.018
0.040
0.848
0.138
0.717
0.922

0.198
0.058
0.064

0.260
tions established among such colour parameters and carotenoids
UVB

by Arias et al. (2000). In addition, irradiated hp-1 showed the high-

est values of a and a/b ratio in tomatoes harvested at MG stage,

<0.001
<0.001
in disagreement with lycopene content (Fig. 5D), as previously sta-
0.001
0.004
0.001
0.001

0.001
0.145
0.146

0.567

0.886
0.229
stage

ted for MM also for hp-1 esh samples.

Abbreviations: MM Money Maker; hp-1 high pigment 1; MG mature green; TU turning green; L (lightness) black, a (redness), b (yellowness), C (chroma), Hue (Hue angle); Hd hardness.
DE Values obtained for esh samples both for MM
(MG = 11.2 2.9; TU = 9.6 1.7) and hp-1 (MG = 8.5 1.4;
47.4 (3.5) bc

23.9 (3.3) b
25.8 (3.1) b

b
68.6 (7.2) a

a
a
a
0.40 (0.2) a
9.3 (2.1) b

TU = 9.3 2.2) were higher compared to those obtained for peels

(4.1)
(3.5)
(5.7)
(6.3)
(3.5)
(0.1)
as colour parameters (L, a and b) presented signicantly differ-
+UVB

54.3
12.1
37.2
39.2
72.2
0.32
ences due to UV treatment for both stages.

Hardness of both genotypes appeared to be signicantly lower

for samples harvested under UVB irradiation (Table 1), which was
b

b
b
b

b
a
0.44 (0.1) a
42.9 (3.2) c

16.7 (2.9) c
18.3 (2.9) c
7.2 (1.7) b

66.5 5.5 a

(2.5)

(4.5)
(4.7)
(3.3)

(5.6)
(0.1)

the only factor that statistically inuenced texture of the fruit. Few
UVB

literature data were present on the effect of UV irradiation, and

49.1

29.7
31.7
10.7

70.3
0.36
TU

UV-B in particular, on texture of tomato fruits showing often con-

trasting results according to treatment condition and/or measure-

ab

ab
ab

ment equipment. Liu and co-authors (2011) assessed rmness of

26.8 (5.3) b

b
50.9 (3.4) b

28.0 (5.7) b
73.3 (3.5) a

a
0.30 (0.1) a

a
8.1 (2.6) b

(2.8)
(3.4)
(4.2)
(5.2)
(8.6)
(0.2)

tomato fruits under storage (up to 37 days) by means of similar

+UVB

equipment of this study, showing that initial consistence of mature

51.7
19.5
32.9
38.6
59.8
0.60

green tomato was better retained by fruits treated at low UV-B

doses (1040 kJ/m2) than untreated and/or higher UV-B irradiation

ab
ab
ab
ab
ab
ab

amount (80 kJ/m2). In addition, experimentation carried out on the

a
a

a
a
a

a
(3.4)
(1.9)

(2.7)
(3.2)

(1.7)
(4.3)
(3.4)
(4.5)
(4.9)
(2.7)

(0.1)

(0.1)

same two tomato genotypes by means of in planta UV-B depriva-

UVB

tion have previously shown the stimulatory effect of UV-B on per-

Flesh

55.8
13.8

35.8
67.3

52.9
14.8
33.5
36.8
66.6
33.0

0.42

0.44
MG

oxidases specically involved in lignications, as well as a greater

availability of lignin. This may also reect on cell wall plasticity

stage  UVB

and, conversely, the depletion of polygalacturonase activity, which

was responsible of tissue softening (unpublished results), as previ-
0.002

0.003

0.010
0.326
0.262
0.779

0.751

0.559

0.323
0.389
0.501

0.075

0.061
0.300

ously reported for other vegetables (Hilal et al., 2004). On the con-
trary, UV-C irradiated tomato fruits were found to exhibit lower
rmness of untreated and red light treated samples after 21 days
0.011

0.006

0.006
0.344
0.481
0.965
0.216
0.271

0.885

0.639

0.221
0.233
0.203

0.060

of storage (Liu, Zabaras, Bennett, Aguas, & Woonton, 2009),

UVB

whereas the same type of irradiation were found to increase rm-

ness of tomato through a diminution of the activity of cell wall-
0.015
0.002

0.020

<0.001

<0.001
0.010
0.003
0.002
0.289

0.174
0.219
0.255

0.945

0.703
Tomato colour indices, texture and signicance of the P-value according two way ANOVA.

degrading enzymes (Barka, Kalantari, Maklouf, & Arul, 2000). Thus,

stage

the lower rmness shown by both genotypes as a consequence of

P

UV-B treatment, independently from harvesting stage, may be re-

lated to the different modality applied for irradiation in this study,
ab

ab
ab
ab

ab

b
a

a
a

a
a
a
8.8 (0.4) b

8.3 (0.5) b
(4.4)

(5.4)

(2.3)
(3.2)
(4.4)

(1.6)

(3.7)
(2.0)
(4.0)

(3.0)
(0.2)

(0.2)

that may have stimulated enzymatic pathway in a different man-

ner leading to a tissue softening.
+UVB

39.9
27.4
29.4

46.9

28.7
29.8
41.5
40.3

0.93

41.0

46.0
0.96

4. Conclusions
ab
b
b
b
b

b
a

a
a
a
a
a
9.7 (0.3) a

9.8 (0.7) a
(3.6)
(3.1)
(4.6)
(2.2)

(2.3)
(3.3)
(2.7)
(4.1)
(1.9)
(2.0)

(0.1)

(0.1)
UVB

Irradiation with UV-B light seems to be a promising tool to

37.3
24.8
26.1
36.1
46.6

28.6
29.9
41.5
46.2
0.95

40.8

0.94
TU

modulate the concentration of antioxidant compounds in tomato

fruits, not only in the external tissue (peel) directly affected by
ab

ab
ab

light exposure, but also in the esh. This aspect is particularly

b
b

b
a

a
a

a
8.5 (0.4) b

8.8 (0.4) b
(4.5)

(1.7)

(3.1)
(2.7)

(5.1)

(2.5)

(3.6)
(2.2)
(0.2)
(2.0)

(5.0)

(0.2)

interesting since, although peel is richer in carotenoids: (i) esh ac-

counts for the higher proportion of fruit weight, and (ii) peel is of-
+UVB

39.4

38.4

26.7

1.15
40.8
25.0
30.3

50.3
0.84

30.7

40.7
40.9

ten removed, in particular in canned or cooked tomatoes. However,

attention should be paid to the choice of the cultivar since the po-
ab
ab

sitive effect of UV-B irradiation on nutraceutical properties seems

b

b
b
b
a
a
a
a
a

a
9.3 (0.4) a

9.6 (0.3) a
(3.4)
(3.4)
(3.6)
(4.3)

(1.4)

(3.5)
(2.6)
(4.7)
(2.0)

(2.0)
(0.1)

(0.3)

to be genotype-dependent.
UVB

Post-harvest UV-B irradiation was generally less effective in

41.4
29.6
31.8
43.6
47.1

38.5
26.7
25.6
37.1
43.6
0.94

1.04
Peel
MG

modifying tomato colour, which appeared to be mainly controlled

by harvesting stage. Colour parameters appeared to be more mark-
Hd (N)

Hd (N)

edly modied for esh than peel, after UV-B treatment, consider-
a/b

a/b
Table 1

hp-1
MM

ing DE values, and this is an interesting nding as no colour data

H

H
b

b
a

a
L

L
C

were reported in literature for treated esh.

158 A. Castagna et al. / Food Chemistry 137 (2013) 151158
As far as texture is concerned, irradiated tomato fruits did not
exhibit an increase of rmness under the condition investigated
in this study, regardless of the genotype. This could be considered
a detrimental effect by a technological point of view, but this re-
sult, which seemed to be dependent on dose and/or modality of
the irradiation treatment comparing with the few other literature
data, needs to be deepened as the mechanism involved in texture
change is not yet claried.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the European Cooperation in the
eld of Scientic and Technical Research, COST Action FA0906:
UV-B radiation: A specic regulator of plant growth and food
quality in a changing climate and by funds of the University of
Pisa and University of Parma.
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