Analysis of metabolomics associated with quality differences between room‐temperature‐ and low‐temperature‐stored litchi pulps

Abstract

Studies on how temperature affects the postharvest quality of litchi have focused mainly on pericarp browning but rarely on the metabolites in postharvest litchi pulp. In this study, the differences in respiration rates, total soluble solid content, and titratable acid content demonstrated that room and low temperatures have different effects on the quality of “Feizixiao” litchi pulp. UHPLC‐ESI‐QTOF‐MS/MS analysis was performed to compare the differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) in litchi pulp after 8 days of storage at room temperature (RT‐8 d) with those in litchi pulp after 28 days of storage at low temperature (LT‐28 d). Nineteen carbohydrates (phosphohexoses, sorbitol, and mannose), fifteen acids, seven amino acids, nine energy metabolites and nucleotides, and six aliphatic and secondary metabolites were identified as common DEMs in RT‐8 d and LT‐28 d pulps. These findings indicated active fructose and mannose metabolism and increased catabolism of nicotinate, nicotinamide, alanine, aspartate, and glutamate. Four carbohydrates (mainly phosphohexoses), five acids, ten amino acids, three aliphatic and secondary metabolites, and one hormone were identified as unique DEMs in RT‐8 d pulp, the consumption of key metabolites in glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and accumulation of phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. Active consumption of nucleotide metabolites and biosynthesis of aliphatics in LT‐28 d pulp were indicated by unique DEMs (eleven carbohydrates, four acids, seven amino acids, seven energy metabolites and nucleotides, and six aliphatic and secondary metabolites). These results provided an unambiguous metabolic fingerprint, thereby revealing how room and low temperatures differentially influenced the quality of litchi pulp.

Effect of temperature treatment on fruit quality and immunoregulation of Satsuma (Citrus unshiuMarc.) during storage

“…And storage temperature is a crucial factor affecting fruit quality and flavor of satsuma among all the storage treatments (Matsumoto & Ikoma, 2012). Room‐temperature and low‐temperature treatments usually differentially affect the physiological activities of postharvest fruits (Guo, Luo, Han, & Wu, 2019). The optimum storage duration varies with citrus varieties (Cao et al., 2019), and the recommended storage period of satsumas is 2–4 weeks under optimal storage conditions (Obenland, Collin, Mackey, Sievert, & Arpaia, 2011).…”

Metabolic profiling and gene expression analysis reveal the quality deterioration of postharvest toon buds between two different storage temperatures

“…This finding implied that the rot of toon buds was aggravated and the protective effect of osmolytes was weakened. Sugars are the main respiratory substrates for energy supply and osmolytes ( Guo et al., 2019 ; Uarrota et al., 2019 ). Sucrose and fructose accumulated rapidly with the extended storage time.…”

“…Recently, a large number of literatures have reported the physiological, biochemical, and molecular regulatory mechanisms of quality deterioration and postharvest senescence of fruits and vegetables ( Tang et al., 2016 ; Guo et al., 2019 ; Pott et al., 2020 ). Tang et al.…”

Comparative metabolomics reveals differences in primary and secondary metabolites between “Shixia” and “Chuliang” longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) pulp

“…In the last two decades, the metabolomics based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been widely applied in metabolome analysis on many fruit crops such as citrus (Wang et al, 2016), fig (Wang et al, 2017), tomato (Zhu et al, 2018), strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) (Paolo et al, 2018), apple (Xu et al, 2020), and litchi (Guo et al, 2019). In this study, the pulp of "Shixia" and "Chuliang" longan were used as materials, and a variety of primary and secondary compounds such as sugar, organic acids, amino acids, alcohols, flavonoids, phenolic acids, nucleotides, anthocyanins, and alkaloids were determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS/MS).…”