Role of internal atmosphere on fruit ripening and storability—a review

Abstract

Concentrations of different gases and volatiles present or produced inside a fruit are determined by the permeability of the fruit tissue to these compounds. Primarily, surface morphology and anatomical features of a given fruit determine the degree of permeance across the fruit. Species and varietal variability in surface characteristics and anatomical features therefore influence not only the diffusibility of gases and volatiles across the fruits but also the activity and response of various metabolic and physiological reactions/processes regulated by these compounds. Besides the well-known role of ethylene, gases and volatiles; O 2 , CO 2 , ethanol, acetaldehyde, water vapours, methyl salicylate, methyl jasmonate and nitric oxide (NO) have the potential to regulate the process of ripening individually and also in various interactive ways. Differences in the prevailing internal atmosphere of the fruits may therefore be considered as one of the causes behind the existing varietal variability of fruits in terms of rate of ripening, qualitative changes, firmness, shelf-life, ideal storage requirement, extent of tolerance towards reduced O 2 and/or elevated CO 2 , transpirational loss and susceptibility to various physiological disorders. In this way, internal atmosphere of a fruit (in terms of different gases and volatiles) plays a critical regulatory role in the process of fruit ripening. So, better and holistic understanding of this internal atmosphere along with its exact regulatory role on various aspects of fruit ripening will facilitate the development of more meaningful, refined and effective approaches in postharvest management of fruits. Its applicability, specially for the climacteric fruits, at various stages of the supply chain from growers to consumers would assist in reducing postharvest losses not only in quantity but also in quality.

Alleviation of postharvest chilling injury of tomato fruit by salicylic acid treatment

“…Salicylic acids (SA) as an endogenous signaling molecule plays a pivotal role in plant development and response to environmental stress (Asghari and Aghdam 2010;Paul and Pandey 2011). SA can alleviate postharvest chilling injury in fruit and vegetables via different mechanism such as enhance alternative oxidase (AOX) gene expression as a ROS avoidance gene in tomato fruit (Fung et al 2006), increase ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities and reduced-to-oxidized ascorbate ratio (AsA/DHAsA) and reduced-to-oxidized glutathione ratio (GSH/GSSG) in peach fruit ) and enhance heat shock proteins (HSPs) in tomato (Ding et al 2001) and peach fruit .…”

Delayed Ripening of Climacteric Fruit by Catalysts Prepared from Induced Cells ofRhodococcus rhodochrousDAP 96253: A Case for the Biological Modulation of Yang-Cycle Driven Processes by a Prokaryote

“…3,4,21 It is further noted that cyanide insensitive respiration contributes to this increase in respiration. [22][23][24] The events of system 2 ethylene biosynthesis influence the aromatic (flavor and fragrance) chemicals, which are distinctive to many climacteric fruit.…”

“…[22][23][24] The events of system 2 ethylene biosynthesis influence the aromatic (flavor and fragrance) chemicals, which are distinctive to many climacteric fruit. 3 For example, the distinctive flavor and aroma compounds have been defined for bananas, apples, and peaches. [25][26][27][28] It is equally true that distinctive volatiles also may affect ethylene biosynthesis; jasmonates represent such an example.…”

“…1 The role of communication (plant signaling) in the ripening of climacteric fruit or in the response of climacteric fruit to chill injury is well established. [1][2][3][4] Equally well established is the complex intraspecies communication present in a number of plant diseases such as Dutch elm disease or Ambrosia fungi/ beetles. In all of these communication schemes, volatile organic compounds play an important role.…”

Influence of Postharvest Treatment of Oxalic Acid on Shelf Life and Quality of Litchi Fruit cv. Muzaffarpur

“…The appearance and quality of the fruits goes on degrading after harvest during packing, transportation and storage. During this period, continue weight loss of litchi fruit occurs due to respiration, transpiration and evaporation from the fruit which is known as physiological loss in weight (Paul & Pandey, 2014). Pericarp browning is a major limitation to the retention of color due to moisture loss, which deteriorates fruit rapidly after harvest, often within 48 to 72 hours (Huang & Scott, 1985).…”