Temperature and Ultra Low Oxygen Effects and Involvement of Ethylene in Chilling Injury of ‘Rojo Brillante’ Persimmon Fruit

Abstract

The effects of storage temperature, inhibition of ethylene action by treatment with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and ultra low oxygen (ULO) atmosphere on chilling injury (CI), fruit firmness and ethylene production in the astringent 'Rojo Brillante' persimmon fruit were investigated. CI symptoms were manifested as a very dramatic loss of firmness after fruit transfer from cold storage to shelf-life conditions (18 °C). During cold storage, fruit softening appeared more rapidly in fruit stored at the intermediate temperature of 10 °C than at 1 °C or 14.5 °C. Ethylene production increased with storage time at the chilling temperature (1 °C) but a sharp increase took place upon fruit transfer from 1 °C to ambient temperature. This ethylene increase was accompanied by a loss of fruit firmness associated with chilling damage development. A pre-treatment with the competitive inhibitor of ethylene action 1-MCP, at 1 μL/L, reduced firmness loss and mitigated CI damage but considerably increased ethylene production in fruit transferred to shelf-life conditions after a prolonged cold storage period. Collectively, these results suggest a role of ethylene in the reduction of flesh firmness and consequently in the induction of CI in persimmon fruit. Moreover, ethylene exerts a negative feedback regulation of cold-induced ethylene biosynthesis. Storage of 'Rojo Brillante' persimmon fruit under ULO (1.3-1.8% O₂, v/v) atmosphere did not affect the incidence of CI but reduced fruit astringency, suggesting that ULO may be an alternative postharvest storage system for 'Rojo Brillante' persimmon fruit.

Involvement of the Redox System in Chilling Injury and Its Alleviation by 1-Methylcyclopropene in ‘Rojo Brillante’ Persimmon

“…The main CI symptom of this cultivar is a fast firmness loss. This flesh softening can be exhibited during cold storage at 4-11°C (Arnal and Del R ıo, 2004;Orihuel-Iranzo et al, 2010), nevertheless at 0-1°C the drastic firmness loss only occurs when fruit are transferred to shelf life temperatures (Arnal and Del R ıo, 2004;Salvador et al, 2004). Therefore the use of treatments to control CI becomes necessary to cold storage persimmon.…”

“…In 'Rojo Brillante' persimmon, microstructural studies have shown that 1-MCP preserves the integrity of cell walls and adhesion between adjacent cells (P erez-Munuera et al, 2009). Moreover, the loss of the cell walls integrity and the flesh breakdown associated with CI development has been linked to increased levels of ethylene (De Souza et al, 2011;Luo and Xi, 2005;Orihuel-Iranzo et al, 2010;Woolf et al, 1997). According to Orihuel-Iranzo et al (2010), the increase in ethylene production upon transfer from chilling to nonchilling temperature is part of the fruit chilling response since it does not occur at nonchilling temperatures, and it also appears to be responsible for the collapse of the fruit.…”

Harvest and Postharvest Quality of Persimmon Fruit:physicochemical and Nutritional Aspects.

“…3). For cold storage of between 30 and 60 days, ST content slight decreased to values of around 0.4%, which then remained constant in all the treatments, except in the control fruit, in which ST declined to around 0.3% after 90 d. Orihuel et al (2010) reported that during ULO cold storage, the soluble tannins of 'Rojo Brillante' fruits declined from 0.7 to 0.4% within 24 d. It must be noted that for 'Rojo Brillante' persimmons, the usual values for non-astringent fruit are 0.03-0.04% of ST. An ST concentration higher than 0.04%, and even one as low as 0.06%, may cause astringency . In fact, the sensory evaluation of the fruit in the present study revealed that 'Rojo Brillante' fruits remained highly astringent (astringency value = 4) throughout cold storage.…”

“…In 'Rojo Brillante' persimmon, microstructural studies have shown that 1-MCP preserves the integrity of cell walls and adhesion between adjacent cells . Moreover the loss of the cell walls integrity and the flesh breakdown associated with CI development has been linked to increased levels of ethylene (De Souza et al, 2011;Luo and Xi, 2005;Orihuel-Iranzo et al, 2010;. According to Orihuel-Iranzo et al (2010), the increase in ethylene production upon transfer from chilling to nonchilling temperature is part of the fruit chilling response since it does not occur at nonchilling temperatures, and it also appears to be responsible for the collapse of the fruit.…”

“…In 2008, we reported that during storage at 15ºC, an atmosphere based on 97% N 2 + 3% air led 'Rojo Brillante' fruit to lose astringency and allowed fruit conservation for 30 days . Recently, Orihuel-Iranzo et al (2010) determined that ULO (ultra low oxygen) atmosphere (1.3-1.8% O 2 ) removed astringency in 'Rojo Brillante' when applied at 14.5ºC, but it did not control CI at 1ºC or 10ºC. When a CA was applied to 'Triumph', CA (1-1.5% O 2 and 1.5-3% CO 2 ) storage of this cultivar has been reported to offer the benefit of delaying softening and retarding decay development.…”