Preharvest Treatment of Methyl Jasmonate and Salicylic Acid Increase the Yield, Antioxidant Activity and GABA Content of Tomato

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of preharvest treatment of 0.25 mM methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and 0.5 mM salicylic acid (SA) on quality parameters, most important secondary metabolites (lycopene, β-carotene, ascorbic acid, total phenolics, and flavonoids), antioxidant activities, and amino acid contents of ‘Kumato’ tomato. Treatments with MeJA and SA led to an increase of total yield per plant and were effective in maintaining the fruit quality attributes such as firmness, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, and Brix acid ratio at two maturity stages (S1 and S2). In addition, lycopene, β-carotene, ascorbic acid, total phenolics, and flavonoids were significantly higher in the treated fruit than in the control. Moreover, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), essential amino acids, and antioxidant activity increased due to MeJA and SA treatments at both stages, especially with MeJA treatment at S2. Overall results also showed the effectiveness of MeJA treatment than SA on improving the yield and nutritional quality of ‘Kumato’ tomato.

Effects of Preharvest Methyl Jasmonate and Salicylic Acid Treatments on Growth, Quality, Volatile Components, and Antioxidant Systems of Chinese Chives

“…In our study, we found that MeJA had no significant effect on the fresh and dry weights of Chinese chives (Figures 1A,C). Our results contradict the findings of Baek et al (2021), who reported that MeJA treatment increased biomass in tomatoes. However, Kurowska et al (2020) showed that the application of MeJA significantly reduced the first leaf sheath and dry leaf weight of barley seedlings.…”

Yellow Pitahaya (Selenicereus megalanthus Haw.) Growth and Ripening as Affected by Preharvest Elicitors (Salicylic Acid, Methyl Salicylate, Methyl Jasmonate, and Oxalic Acid): Enhancement of Yield, and Quality at Harvest

“…In sweet cherry, MeSa at 1 or 2 mM also increased TSS and TA concentration [13]. TSS is a significant harvest criterion for pitahaya fruits, and the present results revealed that MeSa at 10 mM advanced the ripening process, while harvest could be delayed with OA at 1 mM and MeJa at 5 mM, in agreement with the results reported in table grape [19] and sweet cherry [37], in which MeJa also showed lower TSS levels than control [32], and was confirmed by the higher TA content of those treated pitahayas. For this parameter, all SA treatments induced a higher percentage of TA, which was unaffected in the remained treated-pitahaya.…”

“…Lower concentrations of MeJa (at 1, 0.1, and 0.01 mM) confirmed the acceleration of the ripening process, the highest yield being maximum with MeJa at 0.01 mM. On the contrary, MeJa treatments did not affect the fruit mass and size on sweet cherry [32], probably due to that one single treatment performed at the late growth period, specifically before harvest. It is well known that a delay in harvest causes a net increase in fruit weight, as reported for 2 mM MeJa applied to sweet cherry 1 week before harvesting, but failed if applications were made 2 or 3 weeks earlier [33].…”

Metabolism and Regulation of Ascorbic Acid in Fruits

“…MYC2 participates in the AsA-GSH cycle and regulates the cold tolerance of tomato fruit by regulating the accumulation of AsA [142]. Treatment with 0.25 mM MeJA can significantly increase 'Kumato' tomato fruit yield and AsA content [143]. The treatment of pomegranate and blueberry fruits with MeJA can also increase the AsA content and total antioxidant activity in the fruits and improve the fruits' antioxidant capacity and storage stability [144,145].…”