## 3 Results
### Aspangus Antioxidants Variation: Effect of UV-C Treatment, Storage Time, and Their Interaction
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l l} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Traits**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**UV-C Treatments**} & & & \\ \cline{2-6}  & **Control** & **UV-C1** & **UV-C2** & **UV-C3** & **UV-C4** \\ \hline TPC (mg FAE/g) & 17.01 \(\pm\) 1.53 b & 16.19 \(\pm\) 1.97 b & 18.81 \(\pm\) 1.52 a & 19.28 \(\pm\) 1.14 a & 19.28 \(\pm\) 1.53 a \\ TFC (mg CE/g) & 3.64 \(\pm\) 0.74 c & 4.96 \(\pm\) 0.57 a & 4.60 \(\pm\) 0.86 ab & 4.30 \(\pm\) 0.51 ac & 4.16 \(\pm\) 0.54 bc \\ ABTS (\(\mu\)M TE/g) & 20.86 \(\pm\) 1.26 b & 19.01 \(\pm\) 1.02 c & 19.58 \(\pm\) 1.00 bc & 23.18 \(\pm\) 1.36 a & 23.89 \(\pm\) 3.26 a \\ DPPH (\(\mu\)M TE/g) & 32.54 \(\pm\) 1.64 c & 34.81 \(\pm\) 1.28 ab & 34.99 \(\pm\) 1.78 a & 33.27 \(\pm\) 1.15 bc & 33.83 \(\pm\) 3.22 ac \\ Chlorogenic acid & 200.76 \(\pm\)147.33 b & 221.76 \(\pm\) 80.02 b & 310.43 \(\pm\) 195.81 a & 143.43 \(\pm\) 69.73 c & 137.04 \(\pm\) 177.48 c \\ Ferulic acid (\(\mu\)g/g) & 101.51 \(\pm\)15.96 bc & 84.86 \(\pm\) 24.22 c & 86.27 \(\pm\) 30.22 c & 109.31 \(\pm\) 31.86 ab & 125.06 \(\pm\) 48.55 a \\ Caffe acid (\(\mu\)g/g) & 326.75 \(\pm\) 51.90 bc & 377.47 \(\pm\) 55.49 a & 298.82 \(\pm\) 136.94 c & 347.59 \(\pm\) 72.58 ab & 357.49 \(\pm\) 108.81 ab \\ _trans_-Cinnamic acid (\(\mu\)g/g) & 37.77 \(\pm\) 23.00 b & 39.07 \(\pm\) 20.70 b & 50.50 \(\pm\) 29.26 a & 32.13 \(\pm\) 13.24 b & 31.25 \(\pm\) 17.01 b \\ Rutin (\(\mu\)g/g) & 5138.52 \(\pm\) 1307.42 c & 5497.53 \(\pm\) 410.77 b & 5874.36 \(\pm\) 1103.94 a & 5504.32 \(\pm\) 928.05 b & 5156.94 \(\pm\) 1226.05 c \\ Quercetin (\(\mu\)g/g) & 279.60 \(\pm\) 49.74 c & 300.77 \(\pm\) 71.14 bc & 355.18 \(\pm\) 49.21 a & 307.18 \(\pm\)68.38 b & 314.94 \(\pm\)75.21 b \\ Kaempfer-3-O- & 167.05 \(\pm\) 28.64 b & 170.55 \(\pm\) 29.86 b & 203.10 \(\pm\) 37.63 a & 169.81 \(\pm\)12.46 b & 158.21 \(\pm\) 16.08 b \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\begin{tabular}{l l} \hline \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{Data represents the average UV-C \(\pm\) SD values calculated over all storage times. Data are expressed as follows: TPC = total phenolic content; TPC = total flavonoid content; ABTS = 2,2-azino-bis-[3-ethylbenzothazoline 6-sulphonic acid]; DPPH = 2,2’-diphenyl-l-pictyhydrazzl. Values in the same row followed by different letters are significantly different (Tukey test \(p<0.05\)).} \\ \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Main effects of UV-C on antioxidants. remaining constant at T3. Ferulic acid and kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside showed the highest concentration at T2 with respect to T0, with an increase of about 18% for both metabolites. Rutin and caffeic acid showed a similar decreasing trend with a percentage of 9.24%, 22%, and 32% for T1, T2, and T3 in the case of rutin, and with a percentage decrease of 4.38%, 17.21%, and 34.14% at T1, T2, and T3 for caffeic acid. As the main flavonoids in asparagus are quercetin and rutin, and the main hydroxyncinamic acids are ferulic and caffeic acids, the interaction of UV-C and storage for these compounds was evaluated (Figure 2 and Supplementary Table S1). A decreasing trend over time for rutin was observed, more significant in the control, where a loss of 48% from T0 to T3 was measured. In the samples treated with UV-C, rutin losses ranged from about 10% to 39% from T0 to T3, and only the UV-C2 treatment allowed the maintenance of high levels of rutin up to the second week. The opposite behavior was observed for quercetin, where the mean increases over time from 32% to 86%. Furthermore, all of the UV-C treatments enhanced the quercetin content up to the second week and maintained it until the third week. Ferulic acid showed significant increases in the second week, both with UV-C3 and UV-C4. Caffeic acid decreased during storage in all the UV-C-treated samples and the control. Asparagus Shelf Life and Nutritional Composition: Effect of UV-C Treatment, Storage Time, and Their Interaction  
The UV-C main effects are shown in Table 3 and Supplementary Table S1. Regarding hardness, an increase up to UV-C2 was observed; thereafter, there were no statistical differences from the control at UV-C3 and UV-C4.