Melatonin Treatments Reduce Chilling Injury and Delay Ripening, Leading to Maintenance of Quality in Cherimoya Fruit

Abstract

Spain is the world’s leading producer of cherimoya, a climacteric fruit highly appreciated by consumers. However, this fruit species is very sensitive to chilling injury (CI), which limits its storage. In the present experiments, the effects of melatonin applied as dipping treatment on cherimoya fruit CI, postharvest ripening and quality properties were evaluated during storage at 7 °C + 2 days at 20 °C. The results showed that melatonin treatments (0.01, 0.05, 0.1 mM) delayed CI, ion leakage, chlorophyll losses and the increases in total phenolic content and hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidant activities in cherimoya peel for 2 weeks with respect to controls. In addition, the increases in total soluble solids and titratable acidity in flesh tissue were also delayed in melatonin-treated fruit, and there was also reduced firmness loss compared with the control, the highest effects being found for the 0.05 mM dose. This treatment led to maintenance of fruit quality traits and to increases in the storage time up to 21 days, 14 days more than the control fruit. Thus, melatonin treatment, especially at 0.05 mM concentration, could be a useful tool to decrease CI damage in cherimoya fruit, with additional effects on retarding postharvest ripening and senescence processes and on maintaining quality parameters. These effects were attributed to a delay in the climacteric ethylene production, which was delayed for 1, 2 and 3 weeks for 0.01, 0.1 and 0.05 mM doses, respectively. However, the effects of melatonin on gene expression and the activity of the enzymes involved in ethylene production deserves further research.

Exogenous Application of Melatonin on the Preservation of Physicochemical and Enzymatic Qualities of Pepper Fruit from Chilling Injury

“…Ge et al [25] reported that the increase in CI in the pepper fruits during cold storage is mainly due to the transcription factor CaMYB340 gene, which induces inhibition of the fatty acid desaturation process and is followed by the breakdown of cell membranes and peroxidation. The CI index and storage quality parameters in pepper fruit can be effectively controlled by MT treatment [8,26]. treated samples, the low concentration had a positive effect on the increment in the CI index in the pepper fruits compared to the control.…”

“…Ge et al [25] reported that the increase in CI in the pepper fruits during cold storage is mainly due to the transcription factor CaMYB340 gene, which induces inhibition of the fatty acid desaturation process and is followed by the breakdown of cell membranes and peroxidation. The CI index and storage quality parameters in pepper fruit can be effectively controlled by MT treatment [8,26]. Changes in fruit weight during storage is a critical aspect that can impact the quality and shelf life of fruits, according to Njie et al [14], and it can be influenced by various factors such as post-harvest treatments, storage conditions, and fruit characteristics [4].…”

Biological and postharvest interventions to manage the ethylene in fruit: a review

“…152,153 Exogenous application of melatonin has been found to be crucial in delaying ethylene production through decreased expression of MdACO1, MdACS1, MdAP2.4 and MdERF10 genes in apple. 17 Moreover, Medina-Santamarina et al 154 reported delayed ethylene evolution in melatonin treated cherimoya fruits. In case of pear, ethylene biosynthesis genes PcACS1 and PcACO1 were signicantly downregulated by the exogenous melatonin treatments and enhanced the shelf life.…”

Special Issue “Phytohormones: Important Participators in Plant Growth and Development”

“…The articles published in the IJMS Special Issue "Phytohormones" are devoted to various aspects of hormonal control of plant growth and development promoting adaptation to normal and stress conditions. They report on findings related to key stages of the plant life cycle such as flower opening and closure [1], development of inflorescence and kernel meristem [2], fruit ripening and senescence [3] and seed maturation [4]. Important developmental processes like shoot branching [5], deposition of lignin and suberin and the formation of apoplastic barriers [6] are the topics of some papers.…”

“…Several articles address the involvement of classical hormones (cytokinins [6,7], auxins [8][9][10], abscisic acid and gibberellins [4]) in the regulation of plants growth and development. This collection also contains reports on the action of plant growth regulators recently classified as phytohormones: strigalactones [5] and melatonin [3,7]. Hormonal control of plant growth and development is discussed in connection with the development of plant resistance to stress conditions [5,7,11].…”