Browning inhibition in fresh-cut Chinese water chestnut under high pressure CO2 treatment: Regulation of reactive oxygen species and membrane lipid metabolism

•Browning only occurred on the cut edge of fresh-cut Chinese water chestnut (CWC).•High pressure CO2 (HPCD) treatment at 2 and 4 MPa inhibited browning in fresh-cut CWC.•HPCD maintained membrane integrity and retarded enzymatic browning in surface tissue.•The increase of flavonoids content in surface tissue was inhibited by 2 MPa HPCD.•HPCD increased antioxidant enzyme activity and antioxidants content of inner tissue. Fresh-cut Chinese water chestnut (CWC) was treated with high pressure CO2 (HPCD) to inhibit the browning reactions, and the underlying mechanism was investigated in this study. Results showed that HPCD at 2 MPa pressure significantly inhibited lipoxygenase activity and enhanced superoxide dismutase activity, leading to decreased malondialdehyde and H2O2 contents in surface tissue. Moreover, HPCD could reduce total phenols/flavonoids content of surface tissue. Compare with control, homoeriodictyol, hesperetin, and isorhamnetin contents of 2 MPa HPCD-treated samples on day 10 were reduced by 95.72%, 94.31%, and 94.02%, respectively. Furthermore, HPCD treatment enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities, and improved the O2– scavenging ability and reducing power of inner tissue. In conclusion, by regulating ROS and membrane lipid metabolism, HPCD treatment with appropriate pressure could retard the biosynthesis of flavonoids and enzymatic oxidation of phenolic compounds in surface tissue, and enhance antioxidant activity of inner tissue, thereby, delaying the quality deterioration of fresh-cut CWC.