UV-C irradiation has been shown to reduce fruit decay and delay ripening. Based on an expected higher impact and applicability, UV irradiation treatments have been almost exclusively done before storage at relatively high doses. We evaluated the influence of the pattern of repeated short dose UV-C exposure on quality maintenance of strawberry fruit. Strawberries were subjected to the following treatments: Single-step UV: single 4 kJ m⁻² irradiation prior to storage; two-step UV: two consecutive 2 kJ m⁻² UV irradiations at harvest and after 4 days of storage and multi-step UV: five 0.8 kJ m⁻² after 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 days of storage respectively. A non-irradiated group was left untreated. Samples were stored at 0 °C for 13 days. All UV-C treatments decreased decay, weight loss and softening. The quality retention was higher in fruit subjected two-step and multi-step UV-C. Multiple low dose UV exposure reduced calyx browning more efficiently. Repeated low UV-C dose decreased mold and yeast counts to a higher extent. Multi-step UV treated fruit showed higher alcohol insoluble residue. Two-step UV-C treated fruit showed the highest sensorial scores. Repeated low dose UV-C treatments are more effective in preventing strawberry fruit than conventional single high-fluence pre-storage irradiation.

已经证明，UV-C辐照可减少果实腐烂并延迟成熟。基于预期的更高的冲击力和适用性，在以相对高的剂量存储之前，几乎只进行了紫外线辐照处理。我们评估了重复短剂量UV-C暴露方式对草莓果实品质维持的影响。对草莓进行以下处理：单步紫外线：储存前单次4 kJ m ^-2辐照；两步紫外线：收获时和储存4天后两次连续2 kJ m ^-2紫外线照射和多步紫外线：五次0.8 kJ m ^-2分别存储0、2、4、6和8天后。未经辐照的组未经治疗。样品在0℃下保存13天。所有的UV-C处理均可减少衰变，减轻体重和软化。经过两步和多步UV-C处理的水果的保质性更高。多次低剂量紫外线照射可更有效地减少花萼褐变。重复的低剂量UV-C降低了霉菌和酵母菌的数量。经多步UV处理的水果显示出较高的醇不溶残留物。经两步UV-C处理的水果显示出最高的感官评分。重复的低剂量UV-C处理比常规的单次高通量预贮藏辐射能更有效地预防草莓果实。