Postharvest quality and antioxidant content of baby spinach as affected by harvest time and storage conditions

Antioxidants have been proposed to have positive effects on human health, and are found in high concentrations in fruits and vegetables. The content of antioxidants is known to vary with preharvest and postharvest factors. Baby spinach was field cultivated in southern Sweden, harvested on three occasions, 2½, 3½ and 4½ weeks after sowing, and was stored in polypropylene bags for 5 and 9 days at 10°C and for 9 days at 2°C. The contents of ascorbic acid, vitamin C and total carotenoids were determined using HPLC. The vitamin C and ascorbic acid content was significantly higher in the spinach harvested early than at the middle and late harvests, whereas total carotenoid content was higher at the late harvest. The content of vitamin C and ascorbic acid decreased considerably during storage, especially at the higher temperature. No consistent changes could be found in the carotenoid content after storage