Analytical Methods Storage at low temperature differentially affects the colour and carotenoid composition of two cultivars of banana Heliofabia Virginia De Vasconcelos Facundo a , Poliana Deyse Gurak b , Adriana Zerlotti Mercadante b , Franco Maria Lajolo a,c , Beatriz Rosana Cordenunsi a,c,⇑ a Department of Food Science and Experimental Nutrition, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 580, Bloco 14, São Paulo, SP 05508-900, Brazil b Department of Food Science, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), CEP 13083-862 Campinas, Brazil c University of São Paulo – NAPAN – Food and Nutrition Research Center, Brazil article info Article history: Received 19 April 2013 Received in revised form 12 August 2014 Accepted 15 August 2014 Available online 23 August 2014 Keywords: CIELAB space Trans-lutein All-trans-a-carotene All-trans-b-carotene Statistic multivariate Tolerance abstract Different storage conditions can induce changes in the colour and carotenoid profiles and levels in some fruits. The goal of this work was to evaluate the influence of low temperature storage on the colour and carotenoid synthesis in two banana cultivars: Prata and Nanicão. For this purpose, the carotenoids from the banana pulp were determined by HPLC–DAD–MS/MS, and the colour of the banana skin was deter- mined by a colorimeter method. Ten carotenoids were identified, of which the major carotenoids were all-trans-lutein, all-trans-a-carotene and all-trans-b-carotene in both cultivars. The effect of the low temperatures was subjected to linear regression analysis. In cv. Prata, all-trans-a-carotene and all-trans-b-carotene were significantly affected by low temperature (p < 0.01), with negative estimated values (b coefficients) indicating that during cold storage conditions, the concentrations of these carote- noids tended to decrease. In cv. Nanicão, no carotenoid was significantly affected by cold storage (p > 0.05). The accumulation of carotenoids in this group may be because the metabolic pathways using these carotenoids were affected by storage at low temperatures. The colour of the fruits was not negatively affected by the low temperatures (p > 0.05). Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction Bananas, the most widely consumed fruit in many countries, contain carotenoids, a class of active compounds that is important for human health and essential for vision. The consumption of foods rich in carotenoids reduces risk of cancers and heart diseases, and has undergone intensive investigations of their roles in human health (Delgado-Vargas, Jiménez, & Paredes-Lópes, 2000; Fraser & Bramley, 2004; Young & Lowe, 2001). The profile of carotenoids in banana fruit and the influence of cultivar, maturation, and genetic and geographic factors on biosyn- thesis have already been studied (Davey et al., 2009; Ekesa et al., 2012; Englberger et al., 2010; Fraser & Bramley, 2004; Wall, 2006). The main carotenoids found in banana fruit are a-carotene, b-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin (Arora, Choudhary, Agarwal, & Singh, 2008; Davey, Keulemans, & Swennen, 2006; Davey et al., 2009; Ekesa et al., 2012; Englberger et al., 2006, 2010; Wall, 2006). There are also numerous postharvest studies on quality of bana- nas during ripening under different storage conditions, such as the production of some volatiles (Facundo, Garruti, Dias, Cordenunsi, & Lajolo, 2012; Wendakoon, Ueda, Imahori, & Ishimaru, 2006), enzyme activity, colour and sugar levels (Wendakoon et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2010), fruit firmness and chlorophyll content (Zhang et al., 2010), and colour, texture and sensory attributes (Salvador, Sanz, & Fiszman, 2007). Maintenance of cold temperatures from harvest to commer- cialisation is the most common technique used to retard senes- cence because lowering the temperature reduces enzymatic processes, such as respiration and ethylene production (Wills, Mcglasson, Graham, & Joyce, 1998), and extends shelf life. How- ever, the temperature needs to be kept within in a suitable range, which preserves quality during storage and marketing and pre- vents cold damage. The decrease in temperature must be planned carefully because banana fruits are highly susceptible to chilling injury below 14 °C. Chilling injury is characterised by changes in the fruit ripening physiology and the appearance of brown spots in the pulp and dark spots in the skin (Nguyen, Ketsa, & Van Doorn, 2003); skin colour is a marker for shelf-life (Salvador et al., 2007). However, no research was found by the authors on http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.08.069 0308-8146/Published by Elsevier Ltd. ⇑ Corresponding author at: Department of Food Science and Experimental Nutrition, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 580, Bloco 14, São Paulo, SP 05508-900, Brazil. Tel.: +55 11 30913656; fax: +55 11 38154410. E-mail address: hojak@usp.br (B.R. Cordenunsi). Food Chemistry 170 (2015) 102–109 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Chemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem