Antioxidant properties, total phenolics, and quality of fresh-cut 'Tommy Atkins' mangoes as affected by different pre-treatments

Fresh-cut processing of mangoes have not been explored on a scale similar to other tropical fruits. This study assessed the effect of different pre-treatments and storage on total phenolics, antioxidant properties, and selected quality characteristics of mango cubes treated with: ascorbic acid + citric acid + CaCl2 (AA-CA-Ca), sodium acid sulfate (SAS), and 5-min infrared heat (IR-5). Phenolics content of the untreated cubes was 21.16 mg GAE/100 g on day-0, whereas treated samples had higher contents - 70.82, 40.58, and 25.98 mg GAE/100 g in AA-CA-Ca, SAS, and IR-5 samples, respectively. Similarly, antioxidant activities (ABTS, DPPH, FRAP, ORAC) generally increased with all treatments, this effect was more pronounced with AA-CA-Ca. Total phenolics and antioxidant activities were stable during 12-day storage at 4 degrees C. Cubes treated with AA-CA-Ca showed consistently better color and firmness than the control and other two treatments. Storage time and treatments showed a mixed trend on pH, soluble solids, acidity, and sugar-acid ratio. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.