Protective effect of ascorbic acid against the browning developed in apple fruit treated with high hydrostatic pressure.

Apple Reineta variety was used as an apple dessert. The 1-1.5-cm cubes were immersed in a sucrose solution (30% w/v) and subjected to high pressure (HP) of 400 MPa for 30 min at 5 degrees C. Different ascorbic acid concentrations were used to protect the fruit from the browning developed after the HP treatment. After 2 months of storage at 5 degrees C, no brown color was observed in the samples treated with 20 mM ascorbic acid, and they were acceptable to consumers. However, untreated samples presented fermentation, and they were not acceptable to consumers. The electric conductivity and potassium content were found to be good indicators of the metabolites released from the fruit to the solution in samples treated with high pressure. HP did not affect the peroxidase activity but eliminated the microbial population.