Postharvest yellow LED lighting affects phenolics and glucosinolates biosynthesis in broccoli sprouts

Nowadays, literature is still limited on the effects that LEDs may trigger during postharvest. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of continuous monochromatic Yellow or Green light on total and individual phenolic and glucosinolate content of 9-day broccoli sprouts stored up to 15 days at 5 degrees C as a ready-to-eat product. In addition, a broad-spectrum White LED light, a Fluorescent light and storage in Darkness were used as treatments. An improvement in the total phenolic content (TPC) of 15 % and 13 % was observed under Yellow and White LED lighting, respectively, throughout the shelf-life as compared to Darkness. While Green LEDs did not affect the TPC, an increase of 34.5 % on the total glucosinolate content (TGC) was associated to this treatment on day 4. The highest increase of the TGC was observed under Yellow lighting (77 %, compared to Darkness). In contrast, Fluorescent and Darkness did not affect the TPC, but reduced the TGC (69 and 62 % compared to values at harvest, respectively). Our study demonstrates that a postharvest Yellow LED lighting stimulates the TPC and the TGC accumulation, opening the way for its further applications along the shelf life of other horticultural commodities.

Automated summary

Yellow LED lighting enhances the accumulation of total phenolic and glucosinolate content, improving nutritional value, while Fluorescent light and Darkness reduce the glucosinolate content.