Quality evaluation in common and romanesco cauliflower

Cauliflower is a high demand vegetable, due to its high nutritional value. Indeed, especially during wintertime in the northern hemisphere, it is an important source of vitamins, antioxidants and anticarcinogenic compounds. 

After harvest and before consumer consumption, the curds are usually stored for several weeks at 1-4 °C but more critical is the storage in slices or fresh-cut for its perishability. 

The overall visual appearance and absence of off flavours are crucial criteria for buying decisions of consumers of this type of vegetable. 

Moreover, its firmness, colour and aroma both of raw and cooked cauliflower influence further consumers’ acceptance. 

The variability among different types of cauliflower is consistent: mainly common cauliflower and Romanesco cauliflower both belong to Brassica oleracea var. botrytis, but their external surface, colour, and aroma are different. 

Protocol to assess quality attributes of common and Romanesco cauliflower

In this study, a standard protocol was developed to assess the firmness and external color of the curd for both cauliflower types at harvest and after 1 week of storage at 4°C. 

After a literature review, a protocol was established to identify the proper spots for firmness measurements (using a cylindrical probe, model 53205, TR snc.) and colour measurements (using a portable colorimeter, model PCE – XXM 30) on the curd. 

TR Turoni 53205 firmness tester

Furthermore, aroma profile of green and orange colour Romanesco type cauliflower in three biological replicates at harvest and after 10 days of storage at 4°C and 15°C were characterized by analysis of volatile organic compounds of raw and cooked samples by proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS). 

The overall differences were observed between different colour types and storage conditions of cauliflower for both raw and cooked samples.

The main picture belongs to the presentation, during PostharvestMED, by Alessandro Natalini

Source

Investigation on postharvest attitudes of cauliflower
Alessandro Natalini, Husemann S., Platani C., Angelini P., Massa D., Farneti B., Khomenko I.
PostharvestMED, 9th National Conference of the SOI Working Group on Postharvest Management of Mediterranean Crops, 17-19 September 2025, Palermo, Italy, https://www.postharvestmed.com