Effects of 1-methylcyclopropene on postharvest quality of Roxo-de-Valinhos fresh ripe figs

Abstract

The fig is one of the most perishable fruits during the postharvest phase, which has prompted studies to evaluate the effects of substances applied on figs after harvest in order to extend their postharvest life. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on the postharvest quality of Roxo de Valinhos figs. The research was conducted by applying 4 concentrations of 1-MCP (0 -control, 5, 10, and 20 µg L -1 ) on figs, after which the fruits were evaluated at five different storage times (0, 4, 8, 12, and 16 days). The results showed that 20 µg L -1 of 1-MCP provided the best fruit firmness at day 12 after harvest. The 1-MCP treatments did not improve the total amount of total soluble solids (TSS), but we observed higher amount of total solids from 12 to 16 days of storage. Higher acidity was observed in the figs without a 1-MCP treatment at 8 days of storage and with 20 µg L -1 of 1-MCP after 12 days of storage. 1-MCP did not affect fruit weight loss. The figs treated with 1-MCP showed promising and rising values of firmness, acidity, and TSS at the highest dose. The TSS concentration tended to increase at the higher doses. As a result, it could be interesting to assay this substance with applications with higher concentrations than those used in the present study. Additional key words:Ficus carica, 1-MCP, firmness, soluble solids, titratable acidity, weight loss. fig, which rapidly decreases the quality of the fruit after harves, because it is subject to rapid physiological breakdown. This characteristic affects the efficiency of the commercialization and exportation of the fruit around the world (Gözlekçi et al., 2008;Paula et al., 2007;Sharma and Singh, 2013). The postharvest life of the fresh fig fruit is normally 7-10 d even when it is stored under low temperatures (Ozkaya et al., 2014).Some studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of substances applied on figs to improve its postharvest conservation, such as calcium chloride, fungicides, sodium hypochlorite, and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) (Gözlekçi et al., 2008;Irfan, 2013;Paula et al., 2007;Watkins, 2008). 1-MCP is an unsaturated cyclic olefin that acts as a competitive ethylene antagonist, i.e. it blocks ethylene receptors and can be used to control ethylene production, respiration rate, and softening and extends the shelf-life of a wide range of fruits (Freiman et al., 2012;Sozzi et al., 2005;Terra et al., 2014;Watkins, 2008). However, 1-MCP applications on fruits may not always have similar results on the postharvest quality since its effect has been shown to vary according to the climacteric fruit species, cultivar, maturation and ripening stages of the fruit, and 1-MCP application forms (Freiman et al., 2012;Sozzi et al., 2005; Watkins, 2006;Zhang et al., 2017).There are few reports on the postharvest behavior of figs treated with 1-MCP. Gözlekçi et al. (2008) showed that 10 µg L -1 of 1-MCP slowed the softening of Bardakci figs and retained fruit firmness during...

Soft figs shelf life increasing with and 1-methylcyclopropene and cold storage

“…It is known that the low temperature during first hours just after the harvest is crucial to keep fruit quality during the storage (Spagnol et al, 2018), just when 1-MCP is usually applied. The previous worst answer observed in 'Roxo de Valinhos' by Tofanelli et al (2018) can also be attributed to this. In such way, it is very important to apply 1-MCP under cold temperature and keep figs under low temperature to increase their shelf life.…”

“…Figs climacteric peak routinely occurs before the commercial maturity, in this way they are physiologically mature before fruit softening (Crisosto et al, 2010;Ertan et al, 2019). Due to their soft pulp firmness, Brown Turkey figs are usually harvested when they have 20 to 70% external reddish color (Freiman et al, 2012;Tofanelli et al, 2018). But the best sensorial features in terms of sweetness, acidity, and pulp firmness, occurs when it they are completely soft, what means completely mature (Ingrassia et al, 2017;Sortino et al, 2017).…”

“…It is known that works seeking to increase 'Brown Turkey' and 'Roxo de Valinhos' figs shelf life did not solve the problem yet (Ingrassia et al, 2017;. The 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), an ethylene-inhibiting molecule, has been tested on the 'Bardakci' (Gözlekçi et al 2008); 'Bursa Siyahi' (Ozkaya et al, 2014); 'Albacor' (Villalobos et al, 2018); 'Qing Pi' (Song et al, 2020), 'Brown Turkey', and 'Roxo de Valinhos' fig fruits, obtaining less than seven days of shelf life (Sozzi et al, 2005;Tofanelli et al, 2018) Massolo et al, 2019). It is possible to store early harvested firm figs by applying 1-MCP at 5 µl L -1 of 1-MCP for 19 days, but soft figs did not increase its shelf life in response to 1-MCP (Sozzi et al, 2005).…”

Postharvest application of calcium chloride and 1-methylcyclopropene for quality conservation on organic ripe fig

“…After figs were harvested, they were treated with calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ) (Oliveira Junior et al, 2018) and 1methylcyclopropene (1MCP) (Tofanelli et al, 2018). Half of the selected figs were dipped in the solution of CaCl 2 at 4%, and the other half were dipped in distilled water and immersed for 15 min.…”

“…) is an important crop globally, particularly in Southeast Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Americas, where the USA and Brazil are highlighted for fig production (Rosianski et al, 2016;Uzundumlu et al, 2018;Paolucci et al, 2020). In Brazil, 19.6 tonnes were harvested from 2.114 hectares in 2020 (IBGE, 2022), where fig trees are cultivated mainly in the southeast and south regions where ripe figs are harvested for consumption and unripe figs for industrializa tion (Tofanelli et al, 2018).…”