Postharvest Changes in the Total Phenolic Content, Antioxidant Capacity and L-Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyase Activity of Strawberries Inoculated with Botrytis cinerea

A comparative study of the total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant capacity (AC) and L-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity of non-inoculated and inoculated fruits of five strawberry cultivars (‘Cle des Champs’, ‘Darselect’, ‘Jewel’, ‘Kent’ and ‘Veestar’) with varying degrees of resistance or susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea was performed during five days of storage in 2007 and 2008. During storage, the TPC and AC of the non-inoculated fruits remained steady, whereas the TPC and AC changed significantly in the inoculated fruits, with the exception of the AC of the ‘Veestar’ fruits. For the susceptible cultivar ‘Kent’, a quadratic pattern of PAL activity was observed in both the non-inoculated and the inoculated fruits, similar to the pattern in the non-inoculated fruits of ‘Cle des Champs’. In general, linear reductions in the TPC and AC were observed in the inoculated fruits.