Effect of thyme extract on quality characteristics of fresh-cut lettuce during storage

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of fresh-cut lettuce after a washing treatment with aqueous thyme extracts of differing concentration. Four different concentrations of thyme extract were employed: 0.001% (w/v, TEA), 0.005% (w/v, TEB), 0.01% (w/v, TEC), 0.05% (w/v, TED), while distilled water was used as a control. Measurements of O₂ concentration, CO₂ concentration, total aerobic bacteria, CIE L^∗, a^∗, b^∗, browning index, total phenolic contents and enzymatic activities were investigated on day 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 at 10°C. The O₂ concentration in TEB were higher than those in other samples during storage, and the CO2 concentration in TEB and TEC were significantly lower than in other samples on day 7. There was no significant difference in the total aerobic bacteria counts between treatments (p<0.05). The samples treated with TEB and TEC showed higher L^∗ (lightness) values, but lower browning indexes, total phenolic compound levels, and enzymatic activities (polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase) than other samples during storage. Specifically, on day 7, the browning index of Cont reached 0.25, while those in the TEB and TEC were about 0.15. The L^∗ in Cont decreased from 69.50 to 58.92, while TEB and TEC were values of 65.61 and 63.20, respectively. These results reveal that 0.005-0.01% thyme extract was effective as a washing treatment inhibited the browning of fresh-cut lettuce and is thus expected to be a useful natural extract for maintaining the quality of fresh-cut lettuce.