Abstract

Avocado cv. Hass consumption has expanded worldwide given its nutritional, sensory, and functional attributes. In this work, avocado fruit from two harvests was subjected to hydrothermal treatment (38 degrees C for 1 h) or left untreated (control) and then stored for 30 and 50 days in a controlled atmosphere (4 kPa O-2 and 6 kPa CO2 at 7 degrees C) (HTCA and CA, respectively) with subsequent ripening at similar to 20 degrees C. The fruit was evaluated for primary and secondary metabolites at harvest, after storage, and after reaching edible ripeness. A decrease from harvest to edible ripeness in mannoheptulose and perseitol was observed while beta-sitosterol, hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidant activity (H-AOX, L-AOX), abscisic acid, and total phenolics (composed of p-coumaric and caffeic acids such as aglycones or their derivatives) increased. HTCA fruit at edible ripeness displayed higher contents of mannoheptulose, perseitol, beta-sitosterol, L-AOX, caffeic acid, and p-coumaric acid derivatives, while CA fruit presented higher contents of alpha-tocopherol, H-AOX, and syringic acid glycoside for both harvests and storage times. The results indicate that a hydrothermal treatment prior to CA enables fruit of high nutritional value characterized by enhanced content of phenolic compounds at edible ripeness to reach distant markets.