Effect of low temperature-storage on the proteome of ‘Moro’ blood orange flesh

Curing and low-temperature combined post-harvest storage enhances anthocyanin biosynthesis in blood oranges

“…Fourteen genes involved in flavonoid and anthocyanin production, together with three transcription factor genes related to flavonoid biosynthesis regulation in citrus, were selected on the basis of their involvement in key regulatory steps of the pathway during citrus maturation and under specific postharvest conditions (Butelli et al, 2012;Carmona et al, 2017;Lo Piero, 2015). As established previously (Carmona et al, 2017(Carmona et al, , 2019, expression of most of the genes studied was upregulated by storage at 9 °C (Fig. 4 and ).…”

“…Storage at low temperature (9 °C) has been proven to induce anthocyanins accumulation in blood oranges via the stimulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis and the accumulation of proteins related with stress response, secondary metabolism, defence and oxidative stress (Carmona et al, 2017(Carmona et al, , 2019. Although postharvest storage at various low temperatures is currently the most commonly used method to maintain the quality and prolong the life of the citrus fruits, many cultivars suffer cold damage when stored below a certain low temperature.…”

“…upregulation of biosynthetic genes and an increase in accumulation of proteins related not only to anthocyanin biosynthesis and the input of energy, but also with other metabolic pathways associated with defence, oxidative and stress responses (Carmona, Alquézar, Marques, & Peña, 2017;Carmona, Alquézar, Tárraga, & Peña, 2019). Indeed, alternative post-harvest treatments based on stress induction, such as UV and gamma irradiation, ultrasonic or high hydrostatic pressures, have been effective in enriching anthocyanins of different fruits such as blackberry, blueberry and peach through the stimulation of the secondary metabolism by activating the phenylpropanoid pathway (Ryu et al, 2017;Zhou, Li, Zhang, Chen, & Tu, 2019;Zou & Hou, 2017).…”

“…This beneficial effect is correlated with the induction of oxidative stress-related processes and more specifically to upregulation of phenylpropanoid metabolism (Lafuente, Establés-Ortíz, & González-Candelas, 2017). To date, little information is available regarding the combined effects of curing followed by cold storage of blood oranges on anthocyanins and general flavonoids biosynthesis though our previous proteome analysis of cold-stored blood oranges anticipated a likely enhancement of phenylpropanoid metabolism (Carmona et al, 2019). Thus, the aim of this work is to investigate the effect of curing plus low temperature storage on blood oranges compared to cold-storage alone.…”