*3.2. Postharvest Quality*

0.05).

LSD test (*p* <

Sea fennel leaves lost water moderately in both treatments during the storage time (data not shown). Particularly, after 12 days of storage, sea fennel leaves obtained from plants grown under salinity presented a higher weight loss (1.24%) than those grown in the control (0.32%).

Leaves' firmness (Table 5) was higher for control than for those grown under salty conditions and increased slightly during storage in both treatments, most likely related to lignification. The leaves of plants grown with NaCl treatment had less turgor due to higher dehydration, presenting lower firmness than the control.

**Table 5.** Effect of 150 mM NaCl addition in the nutrient solution on *C. maritimum* leaf firmness (mm) at 0, 6 and 12 days of storage at 5 ◦C.


Asterisks indicates significance at \*\*\* *p* < 0.001; ns: non-significant. Different letters in the same column indicate significant differences. Values are the mean ± SE (*x n* = 45, *y n* = 30).

A passive modified atmosphere was generated inside the packages, which was related to the respiration rate of the produce. After 6 days of storage at 5 ◦C, no differences in O2 and CO2 concentration in the atmosphere within the packages were observed between treatments (Figure 1). However, after 12 days of storage, CO2 concentration was slightly higher and O2 concentration was moderately lower within the baskets of sea fennel leaves grown with 150 mM NaCl. It could indicate a higher respiration rate for these leaves, probably induced by the pre-harvest stressing conditions of salinity. However, the trend seems to be that both treatments were close to reaching the steady-state and, probably, at that moment differences between treatments would be minimal.

As regards the colour of the sea fennel leaves at harvest, the plants treated with NaCl, presented a luminosity (L\* parameter) about 6% higher than the control (Table 6). Due to that, hue values were lower for those leaves than for the control. Salinity slightly affected leaf colouration towards lighter colours. However, it was almost undetected by the sensory panel. The colour parameters did not change significantly over the 12 days of monitoring. Therefore, salinity did not adversely affect the colour, keeping marketability at values that resemble those of the control.

**Figure 1.** Effect of the salinity of the growing nutrient solution on the atmosphere composition within packages of fresh-cut sea fennel stored for 12 d at 5 ◦C. Values are the mean ± SE (*n* = 3).



Asterisk indicates significance at \* *p* < 0.05, ns: non-significant. Different letters in the same column indicate significant differences. Values are the mean ± SE (*x n* = 9, *y n* = 6).

Microbial load (psychrophiles, yeas<sup>t</sup> and moulds and enterobacteria) was higher at harvest for control leaves and increased during storage at 5 ◦C. *Listeria* was not detected in any treatment. The results in Table 7 show that there was a significant interaction between salinity treatments and storage for psychrophilic bacteria, enterobacteria and yeas<sup>t</sup> and mould counts.

Psychrophilic bacteria counts were significantly higher in control leaves at harvest, but after 6 days of storage, there were no significant differences between treatments (Figure 2). A similar trend was found for Enterobacteria.

The sensory quality, even when decreasing, was acceptable for both treatments at the end of storage (Table 8). The most important changes were observed in texture and freshness, mainly related to a lower crispness associated with the water loss. The leaves obtained from salinity had a salty taste which was not observed in the control. However, this hint of salt was not unpleasant. The samples did not present strange smells in any case.


**Table 7.** Psychrophilic bacteria, mesophilic bacteria, enterobacteria and yeas<sup>t</sup> and moulds counts (log CFU g<sup>−</sup>1) of *C. maritimum* leaves after different salinity treatment (control and 150 mM NaCl) and storage at 5 ◦C for 0, 6 and 12 days.

Asterisk indicates significances at \* *p* < 0.05, \*\* *p* < 0.01, \*\*\* *p* < 0.001; ns: non-significant. Different letters in the same column indicate significant differences. Values are the mean ± SE (*x n* = 9, *y n* = 6).

**Figure 2.** Psychrophilic bacteria and enterobacteria (log CFU g<sup>−</sup>1) of *C. maritimum* leaves with different salinity treatment (control and 150 mM NaCl) after storage at 5 ◦C for 0, 6 and 12 days. Values are the mean ± SE (*n* = 3).

**Table 8.** Effect of 150 mM NaCl addition in the nutrient solution on sensory quality of *C. maritimum* leaves at 0, 6 and 12 days of storage at 5 ◦C.

