Editorial: Molecular and Metabolic Mechanisms Associated with Fleshy Fruit Quality

Fleshy fruits constitute a commercially important and nutritionally indispensable food commodity. In 2014, the total production of tomatoes and grapes worldwide was 170,750,767 and 74,499,859 tones, respectively (FAOSTAT). This issue covers the most recent advances in our understanding of different aspects of fleshy fruit biology. In fact, fruit development and ripening involves several processes that were addressed in this issue namely accumulation of bioactive compounds (Calafiore et al.; Docimo et al.; Karppinen et al.; Rigano et al.) and modification of components that affect nutritional quality (Baldina et al.; Barrantes et al.; Dai et al.; Karppinen et al.; Rambla et al.) as well as modifications in texture triggered by cell wall changes and increased susceptibility to pathogens (Alkan and Fortes; Hocking et al.; Prusky et al.). The reprogramming of fruit development and ripening involves several transcription factors (Arhondakis et al.; Docimo et al.; Grimplet et al.; Li et al.), hormones (Tijero et al.; Alkan and Fortes; Karppinen et al.), nitric oxide (Bodanapu et al.), light signaling (Llorente et al.), calcium (Hocking et al.), small ncRNAs (Paim Pinto et al.), and epigenetic regulation (Gallusci et al.). Furthermore, environmental cues (Joubert et al.; Karppinen et al.; Paim Pinto et al.; Ripoll et al.; Dal Santo et al.), cultivation practices (Conde et al.; Corso et al.; Habran et al.), and postharvest strategies (Tijero et al.; Li et al.; Liu et al.) were shown to have an impact in ripening properties and fruit quality traits. Finally, in the review by Gascuel et al. were addressed the available genetic resources for breeding purposes of commercially important commodities such as tomato and grape. Furthermore, the technologies that facilitate the identification of genes/alleles of interest within the natural or generated variability gene pool were explored.