Biochemical and proteomic analysis of ‘Dixiland’ peach fruit (Prunus persica) upon heat treatment

Abstract

Shipping of peaches to distant markets and storage require low temperature; however, cold storage affects fruit quality causing physiological disorders collectively termed 'chilling injury' (CI). In order to ameliorate CI, different strategies have been applied before cold storage; among them heat treatment (HT) has been widely used. In this work, the effect of HT on peach fruit quality as well as on carbon metabolism was evaluated. When fruit were exposed to 39 degrees C for 3 d, ripening was delayed, with softening inhibition and slowing down of ethylene production. Several differences were observed between fruit ripening at ambient temperature versus fruit that had been heat treated. However, the major effects of HT on carbon metabolism and organoleptic characteristics were reversible, since normal fruit ripening was restored after transferring heated peaches to ambient temperature. Positive quality features such as an increment in the fructose content, largely responsible for the sweetness, and reddish coloration were observed. Nevertheless, high amounts of acetaldehyde and low organic acid content were also detected. The differential proteome of heated fruit was characterized, revealing that heat-induced CI tolerance may be acquired by the activation of different molecular mechanisms. Induction of related stress proteins in the heat-exposed fruits such as heat shock proteins, cysteine proteases, and dehydrin, and repression of a polyphenol oxidase provide molecular evidence of candidate proteins that may prevent some of the CI symptoms. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the cellular events in peach under HT in view of a possible technological use aimed to improve organoleptic and shelf-life features.

2D-DIGE analysis of mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit reveals major proteomic changes associated with ripening

“…The 2-DE gels from mango protein extracts showed good resolution, and the number of detected spots in our study was similar to those of other previous proteomic studies on climacteric fruits using the same technology [10,16,17]. Similarly, the number of variable spots identified in ripening mango was close to those reported in other fruits [16,18].…”

“…The 2-DE gels from mango protein extracts showed good resolution, and the number of detected spots in our study was similar to those of other previous proteomic studies on climacteric fruits using the same technology [10,16,17]. Similarly, the number of variable spots identified in ripening mango was close to those reported in other fruits [16,18]. According to the PCA, the variable spots detected were clearly correlated to the ripening stage, and although the unripe sample from experiment C was slightly different, the samples from the group of climacteric material were much more similar and set apart from the preclimacteric ones in the score plot, which corroborates the physicochemical data presented in Fig.…”

Metabolic profiling of a range of peach fruit varieties reveals high metabolic diversity and commonalities and differences during ripening

“…In previous studies, the proteomic changes associated with ripening were assessed in Dixiland peach fruit (Lara et al, 2009), and later, in five different peach varieties, in order to find out common proteomic changes in different peach varieties (Nilo, Campos-Vargas, & Orellana, 2012). The results indicated that the proteome is conserved among varieties and, also, during the transition from a firm to a soft fruit, which was associated with the narrow genetic background of the commercial peach varieties (Nilo et al, 2012).…”

Comparative Physiological and Proteomic Analysis Reveal Distinct Regulation of Peach Skin Quality Traits by Altitude

“…Given that the proteome is closer to the fruit phenotype than is the genome or the transcriptome along with the fact that it is more directly responsive to environmental stimuli (Chan, 2012), proteomic analysis provides a comprehensive view of fruit's adaptation to different environments. Almost all past proteomic studies of peach fruit were focused on mesocarp tissue (Lara et al, 2009; Nilo et al, 2010, 2012; Hu et al, 2011; Prinsi et al, 2011; Zhang et al, 2011; Giraldo et al, 2012); whereas research concerning skin proeome as an isolated component during peach ripening have not been reported yet.…”