The effects of postharvest oxalic acid (OA) treatment on ethylene production, fruit quality, bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of peach fruit, were examined. Fruits were treated with oxalic acid immediately after harvest and stored at 1° C and 90% relative humidity for 28 days. The oxalic acid treated peach fruit exhibited significantly lower levels of ethylene production, pH, total ...

Ascorbic acid (AsA), chlorophyll and carotenoid contents and their associated gene expression patterns were analysed in Actinidia chinensis 'Hongyang' outer pericarp. The results showed chlorophyll degradation during fruit development and softening, exposed the yellow carotenoid pigments. LHCB1 and CLS1 gene expressions were decreased, while PPH2 and PPH3 gene expressions were increased, indica...

Cell walls of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) fruit, prepared so as to minimize residual hydrolytic activity and autolysis, exhibit increasing solubilization of pectins as ripening proceeds, and this process is not evident in fruit from transgenic plants with the antisense gene for polygalacturonase (PG). A comparison of activities of a number of possible cell wall hydrolases indicated t...

Auxin plays essential roles in plant development. Gretchen Hagen 3 (GH3) genes belong to a major auxin response gene family and GH3 proteins conjugate a range of acylsubstrates to alter the levels of hormones. Currently, the role of GH3 genes in postharvest physiological regulation of ripening and softening processes in papaya fruit is unclear. In this study, we identified seven CpGH3 genes in ...

Exposure of mango (Mangifera indica cv. Tommy Atkins) fruit to methyl jasmonate (MJ) vapors (10(-)(4) M) for 24 h at 25 degrees C reduced chilling injury during subsequent storage for 21 days at 7 degrees C and after 5 days of shelf life at 20 degrees C. The chilling tolerance induced by MJ was positively correlated with the reduction in the percent ion leakage of mango tissue. The overall qual...

Jasmonates (JAs) are signal molecules which elicit stress responses through JAs-responsive genes; they are also involved in developmental processes, including fruit growth and ripening. In the present study, methyl jasmonate (MJ) and n-propyl dyhydrojasmonate (PDJ) were applied to peach trees at the S1, S3 and S4 phases. In all cases, both chemicals inhibited climacteric ethylene production and...

Exogenous application of acetaldehyde (AA) vapour (5000 ppm for 18 h) to peeled avocado fruits prior to storage caused inhibition of fruit ripening. This inhibition was characterized by a delay in fruit softening and reduction in ethylene production. Moreover, addition of 1aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylic acid (ACC), the precursor of ethylene, to avocado disks (in situ) or to avocado extract (in ...

The fruit of melting-flesh peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) cultivars produce high levels of ethylene caused by high expression of PpACS1 (an isogene of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid synthase), resulting in rapid fruit softening at the late-ripening stage. In contrast, the fruit of stony hard peach cultivars do not soften and produce little ethylene due to low expression of PpACS1. To e...

Storage at 3 and 18 °C of 'Arbequina' olives (Olea europaea L.) cultivated in hedgerows and harvested manually or mechanically (wine grape harvester) was tested. Fruit characteristics and oil quality were monitored. Mechanical harvesting caused internal fruit damage that induced its rapid softening and decay, but also facilitated obtaining higher amounts of oil, which suffered a rapid deteriora...