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. 2023 Nov 15;28(22):7606.
doi: 10.3390/molecules28227606.

Enzymatic Activity and Its Relationships with the Total Phenolic Content and Color Change in the High Hydrostatic Pressure-Assisted Curing of Vanilla Bean (Vanilla planifolia)

Génesis V Buitimea-Cantúa  1 , Viridiana Chávez-Leal  2 , Mayra C Soto-Caballero  2 , Dario I Tellez-Medina  3 , Jorge Welti-Chanes  1 , Zamantha Escobedo-Avellaneda  1
Affiliations

Enzymatic Activity and Its Relationships with the Total Phenolic Content and Color Change in the High Hydrostatic Pressure-Assisted Curing of Vanilla Bean (Vanilla planifolia)

Génesis V Buitimea-Cantúa et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Diverse enzymatic reactions taking place after the killing of green vanilla beans are involved in the flavor and color development of the cured beans. The effects of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) at 50-400 MPa/5 min and blanching as vanilla killing methods were evaluated on the total phenolic content (TPC), polyphenoloxidase (PPO), and peroxidase (POD) activity and the color change at different curing cycles of sweating-drying (C0-C20) of vanilla beans. The rate constants describing the above parameters during the curing cycles were also obtained. The TPC increased from C1 to C6 compared with the untreated green beans after which it started to decrease. The 400 MPa samples showed the highest rate of phenolic increase. Immediately after the killing (C0), the highest increase in PPO activity was observed at 50 MPa (46%), whereas for POD it was at 400 MPa (25%). Both enzymes showed the maximum activity at C1, after which the activity started to decrease. As expected, the L* color parameter decreased during the entire curing for all treatments. An inverse relationship between the rate of TPC decrease and enzymatic activity loss was found, but the relationship with L* was unclear. HHP appears to be an alternative vanilla killing method; nevertheless, more studies are needed to establish its clear advantages over blanching.

Keywords: color; high hydrostatic pressure (HHP); peroxidase (POD); polyphenol oxidase (PPO); total phenolics (TPC); vanilla curing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relative total phenolic content (TPC) with respect to the untreated green beans (C0) at different curing cycles (C0–C20) for the high hydrostatic pressure-assisted cured and blanched beans. Different letters within each curing cycle indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relative (a) polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and (b) peroxidase (POD) activity with respect to the untreated green beans (A0) at different curing cycles (C0–C20) for the high hydrostatic pressure-assisted cured and blanched beans. Different letters within each curing cycle indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Visual color changes at different curing cycles (C0–C20) during the high hydrostatic pressure-assisted curing of vanilla beans compared with the blanched beans. GB = untreated green bean.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Changes in color parameters L*, a*, and b* at different curing cycles (C0–C20) during the high hydrostatic pressure-assisted curing of vanilla beans compared with the blanched beans. Different letters within each curing cycle indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).
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