Antioxidant treatments combined with refrigerated storage, modified atmosphere packaging, and precooling improve postharvest quality of red cabbage

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Postharvest deterioration of red cabbage involves water loss, oxidative imbalance, membrane damage, and loss of structural and sensory quality. This study evaluated the effects of four food-grade antioxidants—ascorbic acid, citric acid, glutathione, and α-tocopherol—together with an untreated control under three refrigerated storage strategies: conventional refrigeration, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), and pre-cooling followed by MAP. A 5 × 3 factorial experiment was conducted to assess treatment effects and interactions on physiological, biochemical, oxidative, structural, and quality-related attributes after 12 weeks of storage. Antioxidant treatment, storage condition, and their interaction significantly affected several measured attributes, indicating that treatment responses varied with the storage environment. The combination of citric acid and pre-cooling followed by MAP resulted in the lowest weight loss (8.96%), representing a 69.6% reduction compared with the untreated control under the same storage condition (29.46%). Under this combination, SOD activity reached 49.08 units mg⁻¹ protein compared with 25.69 units mg⁻¹ protein in the corresponding control. Antioxidant treatments also influenced phytochemical retention, membrane stability, firmness, texture, and oxidative-stress-related responses, although the magnitude and direction of effects varied among antioxidant–storage combinations. Multivariate analyses supported associations among oxidative status, antioxidant defense, structural attributes, and postharvest quality. The results indicate that antioxidant application can complement refrigerated MAP-based storage, with citric acid combined with pre-cooling and MAP providing the lowest weight loss among the tested combinations. These findings support the potential of integrating food-grade antioxidant treatments with established refrigerated handling practices, while further studies are needed to evaluate their performance under commercial-scale conditions.