Benzylglucosinolate, Benzylisothiocyanate, and Myrosinase Activity in Papaya Fruit during Development and Ripening

Abstract

Papaya is a climacteric fruit that has high amounts of benzylglucosinolates (BG) and benzylisothiocyanates (BITC), but information regarding levels of BG or BITC during fruit development and ripening is limited. Because BG and BITC are compounds of importance from both a nutritional and a crop yield standpoint, the aim of this work was to access data on the distribution and changes of BG and BITC levels during fruit development and ripening. BG and BITC levels were quantified in peel, pulp, and seeds of papaya fruit. Volatile BITC was also verified in the internal cavity of the fruit during ripening. The influence of the ethylene in BG and BITC levels and mirosinase activity was tested by exposing mature green fruits to ethylene and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP). The highest BG levels were detected in seeds, followed by the peel and pulp being decreased in all tissues during fruit development. Similarly, the levels of BITC were much higher in the seeds than the peel and pulp. The levels of BG for control and ethylene-treated fruit were very similar, increasing in the pulp and peel during late ripening but not changing significantly in seeds. On the other hand, fruit exposed to 1-MCP showed a decrease in BG amount in the pulp and accumulation in seed. The treatments did not result in clear differences regarding the amount of BITC in the pulp and peel of the fruit. According to the results, ethylene does not have a clear effect on BITC accumulation in ripening papaya fruit. The fact that BG levels in the pulp did not decrease during ripening, regardless of the treatment employed, and that papaya is consumed mainly as fresh fruit, speaks in favor of this fruit as a good dietary source for glucosinolate and isothiocyanates.

Identification of odor volatile compounds and deodorization of Paphia undulata enzymatic hydrolysate

“…Phenylacetonitrile and benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) were detected in the hydrolysate. Among the four compounds in Table 5, a moderate proportion of BITC was found, which may be ascribed to the abundant fat in P. undulate, which contains high amounts of BITC (Cha et al, 1993;Rossetto et al, 2008). According to these results, 1-octen-3-ol, n-hexanal, n-heptanal, 2,4-heptadienal, and 2,4-decadienal were identified as the source of the fishy odor.…”

Optimized Formation of Benzyl Isothiocyanate by Endogenous Enzyme and its Extraction from <i>Carica Papaya</i> Seed

“…Papaya seed extraction has been reported have anthelmintic properties [5], antimicrobial activity [6], antifungal activity [7], inhibition of cell proliferation [8], the potential to reduce the risk of various types of cancers which due, at least in part, to BITC.…”

Papaya pulp gelling: is it premature ripening or problems of water accumulation in the apoplast?

“…The gelling symptoms do not necessarily occur in all fruits from the same tree and healthy fruits are harvested as well as the gelling fruit. In these fruits, the gelling tissue develops from the endocarp to the epicarp, similarly to pulp ripening (ROSETTO et al, 2008). In contrast to fruit ripening, an unequal distribution of the PD symptoms in the fruit flesh may be found as a result of the asymmetric progression of gelling.…”

“…However, the symptoms of mechanical injury originate from the outer tissue, next to the epicarp (point of impact) and develop to the endocarp. In this case, the cell wall-degradation leads to a softening of the tissue (CHUNG et al, 2006), as a result of increase in ethylene biosynthesis (DE VRIES et al, 1999, STOW et al, 2000, ROSETTO et al, 2008. These symptoms are not observed in papaya gelling flesh; instead, the gelling aspect is usually observed as soon as the fruit are carefully detached from the papaya tree.…”