Abstract: Purple cabbage was used as the research object to investigate the change of color and epidermal morphology structure, anthocyanin composition and antioxidant activity under; ⁶⁰Co-γ irradiation, so as to evaluate the effects of different irradiation doses on the physiological and biochemical activity of anthocyanin in purple cabbage. The results showed that purple cabbage anthocyanins were sensitive to radiation, and a dose of 1 kGy could change the various components of anthocyanins, but there was no significant difference in the total content of anthocyanins. Irradiation did affect the antioxidant capacity of purple cabbage, and the impact of 1 kGy irradiation was more pronounced than that of 2 kGy irradiation. After irradiation, the activity of the key enzyme POD in the anthocyanin metabolism pathway significantly increased. There was no significant difference in the DPPH radical scavenging ability and PAL activity of purple cabbage irradiated with a dose of 2 kGy compared to non irradiated samples. The irradiation of 2 kGy increased the brightness axis parameter value of the leaves and made the leaf color brighter. In summary, 2 kGy of; ⁶⁰Co-γ irradiation was the optimal dose for preserving purple cabbage and could delay the fading of fresh cut vegetable and fruit products to a certain extent.

Key words: purple cabbage, anthocyanins, ⁶⁰Co-γ irradiation, antioxidant activity, PAL