Hydrogen Sulfide Mitigates Chilling Injury of Postharvest Banana Fruits by Regulating γ-Aminobutyric Acid Shunt Pathway and Ascorbate–Glutathione Cycle

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effect of hydrogen sulfide on chilling injury (CI) of banana (Musa spp.) during cold storage (7°C). It was observed that hydrogen sulfide application (2 mmol L–1) markedly reduced the CI index and showed significantly higher chlorophyll contents, along with suppressed chlorophyll peroxidase and chlorophyllase enzyme activity. The treated banana fruits exhibited substantially higher peel lightness (L*), along with significantly a lower browning degree and soluble quinone content. The treated bananas had substantially a higher endogenous hydrogen sulfide content and higher activity of its biosynthesis-associated enzymes such as D-cysteine desulfhydrase (DCD) and L-cysteine desulfhydrase (LCD), along with significantly lower ion leakage, lipid peroxidation, hydrogen peroxide, and superoxide anion concentrations. Hydrogen sulfide-treated banana fruits showed an increased proline content and proline metabolism-associated enzymes including ornithine aminotransferase (OAT), Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS), and proline dehydrogenase (PDH). In the same way, hydrogen sulfide-fumigated banana fruits accumulated higher endogenous γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) due to enhanced activity of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) and GABA transaminase (GABA-T) enzymes. The hydrogen sulfide-treated fruits exhibited higher total phenolics owing to lower polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) activity and stimulated phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL). The treated banana exhibited higher ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, along with higher glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (AsA) concentrations and a significantly lower dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) content. In conclusion, hydrogen sulfide treatment could be utilized for CI alleviation of banana fruits during cold storage.

Influence of Melatonin Coating on Physiochemical Qualities and Enzymatic Activities in Banana Pericarp under Cold Storage

“…This study demonstrated that prolonged storage periods resulted in more significant declines in phenolic compounds, specifically GA, CA, and QA, in the control samples. Studies have suggested that the decrease in the phenolic acids in banana pericarp during cold storage could be due to enzymatic oxidation induced by PPO activities [86]; this is in accordance with the present study (see Figure 6D). At the same time, the MT treatment substantially controlled the loss of phenolics by suppressing the membrane degradation induced by ROS and various stressors.…”

Persulfidome of Sweet Pepper Fruits during Ripening: The Case Study of Leucine Aminopeptidase That Is Positively Modulated by H2S

“…In fact, H 2 S is exogenously applied to vegetables and fruits using donors such as NaHS since it exerts positive effects. For example, in spinach, H 2 S increases resistance to drought [ 53 ]; in lettuce, it increases shoot elongation [ 54 ]; in ginger, it alleviates the toxic effects of cadmium by increasing the activity of different antioxidant enzymes [ 55 ]; in banana, it reduces chilling injury during postharvest [ 56 , 57 , 58 ]; in strawberry, H 2 S prolongs the shelf-life and reduces the decay rate of harvested fruits [ 59 , 60 ]; in cold-stored peaches, H 2 S regards fruit softening and avoid flesh browning [ 61 , 62 ]; and in apples, it promotes resistance against Penicillium expansum [ 63 ].…”

γ-Aminobutyric acid is involved in overlapping pathways against chilling injury by modulating glutamate decarboxylase and defense responses in papaya fruit

“…Papaya fruit improves low-temperature tolerance by enhancing the activities of energy metabolism-related enzymes like GAD ( Pan et al., 2019 ). The GAD enzyme was increased in peach and banana fruits by improving the endogenous GABA content ( Shang et al., 2011 ; Ali et al., 2022 ). Aghdam et al.…”