Curcumin treatment enhances bioactive metabolite accumulation and reduces enzymatic browning in soybean sprouts during storage.

Curcumin is a natural polyphenol that is widely used in food and medicine. Here, we investigated the effects of curcumin on the antioxidant accumulation and enzymatic browning of soybean sprouts after storage at 4 °C for 2 weeks. Curcumin drastically reduced the water loss, browning index, and peroxide accumulation, increased the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase, decreased the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and polyphenol oxidase, elevated the contents of ascorbic acid, reduced glutathione, nonprotein thiol, phenolics and isoflavones, and enhanced the total antioxidant capacity of soybean sprouts during storage. These curcumin-induced changes were partly but dramatically attenuated by inhibition of NADPH oxidase (NOX). Curcumin induced NOX activity and HO burst in soybean sprouts during the first 24 h after treatment. The curcumin-induced antioxidants and -inhibited enzymatic browning are closely associated with NOX-dependent HO signaling. The findings provide a new method for improving soybean sprout quality during storage.