Influence of Postharvest Temperatures on Carotenoid Biosynthesis and Phytochemicals in Mature Green Chili (Capsicum annuum L.)

Abstract

An intense red color appearance in hot chili is what industry commonly demands. The harvested mature green "Takanotsume" chili, a popular cultivar in Japan, incubated at 20 and 30 • C is investigated. At 30 • C, the chili rapidly degraded chlorophylls and obtained an intense red color, but presented an orange-red color at 20 • C. The sample showed higher carotenoid accumulations at 30 • C, along with significantly upregulated carotenoid biosynthesis-related genes-phytoene synthase (Psy), lycopene-β-cyclase (Lcyb), β-carotene hydroxylase (CrtZ), and capsanthin/capsorubin synthase (Ccs)-during the experiment. While the expression of the Ccs gene was reduced, there was a 5.5-fold upregulation of the Psy gene at the end of incubation. At 20 • C, the Psy gene was downregulated. These observations suggest that the expression of individual genes is temperature-dependent, and these would affect specific carotenoid compounds. The antioxidant capacity (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl; DPPH and ferric-reducing antioxidant power; FRAP) values had no difference between temperatures; the higher content of total phenolics and vitamin C presented in the chili at 30 • C probably corresponds to the advanced ripening process. Thus, 30 • C is the recommended incubation temperature for mature green chili to achieve the industry-demanded intense red color and high accumulation of phytochemicals.

Changes in Carotenoid Concentration and Expression of Carotenoid Biosynthesis Genes in Daucus carota Taproots in Response to Increased Salinity

“…Kong et al [56] found that gourd and wild watermelon rootstocks boost lycopene accumulation in grafted watermelon fruit by up-regulating PSY and ZDS transcripts. Pola et al [57] found that PSY in green pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) was significantly up-regulated at 30 • C, promoting the accumulation of lycopene. These studies show that the expression of lycopene upstream genes may exert a great impact on the changes in lycopene concentration.…”

Functional Characterization of Lycopene Epsilon-Cyclase Genes in Nicotiana Tabacum

“…Mutation of β-OHase in Arabidopsis caused a decrease in lutein, β-carotene, violaxanthin, and zeaxanthin and an increase in αcarotene content [40]. Unlike the former genes, the silencing of PSY, PDS, β-LCY, and VDE caused the photobleaching of different plant organs and/or signi cant declines in photosynthetic e ciency and stress resistance [41][42][43][44][45][46].Therefore, it would be helpful to the study species.…”

A Data Fusion Model to Merge the Spectra Data of Intact and Powdered Cayenne Pepper for the Fast Inspection of Antioxidant Properties

“…Color pigment is also one of the sources of antioxidant compounds, as indicated by chlorophyll and carotenoids [8,33] which are present in chili as the chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, as well as carotenoids in the form of capsanthin, β-carotene, lycopene, etc. [34].…”

“…indicated by chlorophyll and carotenoids [8,33] which are present in chili as the chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, as well as carotenoids in the form of capsanthin, β-carotene, lycopene, etc. [34]. The typical spectral patterns for each sample form were visually grouped to determine their similarities and differences.…”