Incorporation of 1-methylcyclopropene and salicylic acid improves quality and shelf life of winter jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill. cv. Dongzao) through regulating reactive oxygen species metabolism

Abstract

Winter jujube fruit is susceptible to aging, peel reddening, dehydration, shrinkage, and tissue softening during shelf life after it is removed from the cold storage conditions. In this study, the effects of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and salicylic acid (SA) on the quality of winter jujube fruit during shelf life were investigated by measuring physiological indexes and the activities of antioxidant enzymes and enzymes related to reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism of winter jujube fruit. The results showed that 1-MCP treatment and SA treatment suppressed weight loss, respiratory rate, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, H2O2 content, and O2-· production rate, but improved firmness, color difference (ΔE), soluble solid content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activities, ascorbic acid content, glutathione content, total phenolic content, and total flavonoid content in comparison with the control. Particularly, the combined treatment of 1-MCP and SA (1-MCP+SA treatment) showed the maximum efficacy compared to the 1-MCP treatment and SA treatment alone. 1-MCP+SA treatment exhibited the best preservation effect, followed by SA treatment and 1-MCP treatment. Thus, the combined treatment of 1-MCP and SA is an effective approach to maintain the postharvest quality of winter jujube fruit and extend the shelf life.

Maintenance of postharvest storability and overall quality of ‘Jinshayou’ pummelo fruit by salicylic acid treatment

“…(2020) , who pointed out that postharvest 1.5% chitosan treatment could reduce juice sac granulation stress by delaying ROS accumulation. Zhang et al. (2022) also ascertained that pre-storage treatment with 0.05% SA had a direct or indirect effect on the retardation of fruit respiration rate and senescence process, thereby decreasing the accumulation of ROS and maintaining postharvest quality of winter jujube.…”

“…Pummelo fruit, being a typical non-climacteric variety, is prone to a rapid decline in nutritional quality when stored at room temperature, thus limiting its storability. Numerous studies have revealed that pre-storage SA treatment prior to storage can delay postharvest senescence and quality deterioration of a variety of horticultural fruits, including apricot, blueberry, cornelian cherry, goji berry, papaya, pear, winter jujube, and tomato, as well as improve their resistance to abiotic stress ( Dokhanieh et al., 2013 ; Hanif et al., 2020 ; Kumar et al., 2021 ; Zhang et al., 2021a ; Jiang et al., 2022 ; Li et al., 2022 ; Sinha et al., 2022 ; Zhang et al., 2022 ). In this study, pre-storage application of SA was found to effectively in delaying fruit color change and decreasing h° and ΔE values, as well as reducing fruit decay and weight loss of harvested ‘Jinshayou’ pummelo fruit during storage at room temperature ( Figures 1A–E ).…”

“…Pre-storage SA treatment at 0.3% was the more effective in terms of prolonging the storage duration to 90 d at 20°C. The protection of harvested fruit from color change and the inhibition of postharvest loss were observed when exogenous SA application was applied in varying concentrations; such as 2.0 mM SA on ‘Patharnakh’ pear ( Adhikary et al., 2021 ), 0.5 mM SA on ‘Taaptimjaan’ wax apple ( Supapvanich et al., 2017 ), and 0.05% SA on ‘Dongzao’ winter jujube ( Zhang et al., 2022 ).…”

Improving the storage quality and suppressing off-flavor generation of winter jujube by precise micro-perforated MAP

“…TSS levels in winter jujube fruit initially increase and then decrease. This phenomenon could be attributed to the existence of large molecular substances, such as starch, in the fruit during the initial stages of its shelf life ( Zhang W. et al., 2022 ). The decomposition of these compounds might boost the early-stage TSS levels in winter jujube fruit during its initial shelf life.…”

Biochemistry behind firmness retention of jujube fruit by combined treatment of acidic electrolyzed water and high-voltage electrostatic field

“…HVEF is a non-thermal, highly efficient, low energy consumption, no vestiges and low-cost physical preservation technology ( Huang et al, 2022 , Liu et al, 2017 ). It's considered that the external HVEF can affect the inherent electric field inside fruits and vegetables ( Zhang, Zhang, Law, & Guo, 2022 ), and ionize the air to produce unstable ozone, negative air ions and other active substances, which can eliminate ethylene, reduce the stomatal opening on the epidermis, impede the normal sugar metabolism of fruits and vegetables, and have excellent antibacterial or bactericidal effects ( Liu et al, 2017 , Lotfi et al, 2022 , Yan et al, 2020 , Zhang et al, 2022 ). In addition, HVEF treatment could regulate the antioxidant system and other metabolism pathways to maintain better storage quality in A. bisporus ( Yan et al, 2020 ), fresh-cut broccoli ( Kao, Tu, Sridhar, & Tsai, 2019 ), pomegranate ( Lotfi et al, 2022 ), persimmon ( Liu et al, 2017 ), pakchoi ( Zhang et al, 2022 ), fresh-cut cabbage and baby corn ( Huang, Yang, Sridhar, & Tsai, 2021 ).…”