4.4.2. Radical Scavenging Activity

The effectiveness of low oxygen technologies to limit the decrease in total antioxidant capacity has been previously reported. For instance, Mditshwa et al. [9] observed higher RSA for optimally harvested 'Granny Smith' apples stored at 0 ◦C in DCA-CF compared to RA. The total antioxidant capacity of RLOS (ULO and CA) treated peels resembled the behavior of 1-MCP treated optimally harvested 'Granny Smith' apples according to Shaham et al. [57], who reported higher RSA in 1-MCP treated 'Granny Smith' apples compared to regular stored fruit. The trend in RSA change during storage in RA treated peels corroborates the findings of Barden and Bramlage [7], who observed that water soluble antioxidants decreased with an increase in storage duration of 'Cortland' and 'Delicious' apples stored at 0 ◦C. In addition, Mditshwa et al. [9] reported inferior quality of optimally harvested 'Granny Smith' apples after storage in RA, which correlated with a decrease in RSA during storage. In contrast, RSA increased regardless of the storage conditions for optimally harvested 'Jonagold' and 'S'ampion' apples stored in CA (2% CO2 and 2% O2) and regular atmosphere for 120 days at 1 ◦C [58]. Based on the results, it can be argued that both RLOS (ULO and CA) and DCA-CF treatments inhibited the loss of RSA during storage and after 7 d shelf life in 'Granny Smith' apples.
