Contents and apparent activation energies of chlorophyll and ascorbic acid of broccoli under controlled atmosphere storage

The degradations of chlorophyll and ascorbic acid of broccoli under controlled atmosphere storage were tested and it was found that the degradations followed the first order reaction kinetics. The apparent activation energies of chlorophyll and ascorbic acid of broccoli were also determined, based on the Arrhenius's law. The effects of storage temperatures at 2℃ and 8℃, and gas compositions of 3% O₂, 2% CO₂, 95% N₂ and 6% O₂, 6% CO₂, 88% N₂, on the broccoli quality were measured. The results showed that the combination of temperature at 2℃, gas composition of 3% O₂, 2% CO₂, 95% N₂ was optimal.