Research on melatonin in fruits and vegetables and the mechanism of exogenous melatonin on postharvest preservation

Effect of preharvest melatonin applications at dusk on quality and bioactive compounds content of early sweet cherries

“…[6][7][8]29,30 It has been found that the application of exogenous melatonin can promote the accumulation of endogenous melatonin and regulate various metabolic pathways in fruits, enhancing postharvest quality and extending shelf-life. 6 Authors such as Wang et al, 31 Carrión-Antolí et al 9 and Cortés-Montaña et al 13 demonstrated that fruit that had been treated with melatonin showed a better postharvest life. Our study revealed that the endogenous concentration of melatonin increased proportionally to the concentration applied.…”

“…The exogenous application of melatonin also involves studying the impact on its endogenous content, as an increase in melatonin could be a positive aspect from two different points of view. On the one hand, consumers benefit from the beneficial effects of this substance on their organism 5,6,28 . On the other hand, melatonin can buffer and delay the senescence processes during the different postharvest stages 6‐8,29,30 .…”

“…Many daily vegetables and fruit contain medium-high levels of melatonin. Cherries have a melatonin content of around 5 × 10 −8 and 2 × 10 −5 g kg −1 fresh weight (FW) 5,6 depending on cultivar, ripening stage and agronomic practices. 6 Increasing the endogenous melatonin content in early sweet cherry cultivars could enhance their quality, reducing the negative impact of biotic and abiotic stresses.…”

“…7,8 Thus, melatonin treatment prolongs sweet cherry shelf-life, maintains postharvest quality, and reduces weight loss and rot incidences. [5][6][7] In this sense, Carrión-Antolí et al 9,10 observed that preharvest melatonin treatments produced cherries with higher total acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), red colour intensity, phenolic compounds, and anthocyanins. In contrast, Tijero et al 11 reported that melatonin preharvest application can delay cherries flowering and ripening process on the tree.…”

“…For this reason, the preharvest and postharvest use of exogenous melatonin as a biostimulant has been studied and proposed, as it has been found to have an impact on the modulation of plant growth and development, as well as on fruit ripening 7,8 . Thus, melatonin treatment prolongs sweet cherry shelf‐life, maintains postharvest quality, and reduces weight loss and rot incidences 5‐7 . In this sense, Carrión‐Antolí et al 9,10 .…”