Investigation of Method against Browning of Musella lasiocarpa Flower during Processing

Purpose This research was performed to explore a method against the browning of Musella lasiocarpa flower during process.Methods M.lasiocarpa flower was treated with four color protectors (citric acid, D-sodium erythorbate, calcium chloride and EDTA-2Na) for the firstly time. Chromatic aberration, browning degree, and activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) of M.lasiocarpa flower were measured to investigate the effect of color protectors concentration and treating time.Results The color protection effect of four reagents was:citric acid > D-sodium erythorbate > calcium chloride > EDTA-2Na. The optimal concentration of citric acid and CaCl2 were both at 0.3%, and D-sodium erythorbate was at 0.35%. The optimum soaking time for four color protectors was 2 h. Citric acid exhibited better color fix effect than its mixture with D-sodium erythorbate.Processing with 0.3% citric acid for 2h gave 96.67% inhibition on PPO activity, and 91.71% inhibition on POD activity.Conclusion Pretreatment with 0.3% citric acid for 2h could be an effective method to prevent the brown of M. lasiocarpa flower during processing.