Special Issue on “Fruit Metabolism and Metabolomics”

Abstract

Over the past 10 years, knowledge about several aspects of fruit metabolism has been greatly improved. Notably, high-throughput metabolomic technologies have allowed quantifying metabolite levels across various biological processes, and identifying the genes that underly fruit development and ripening. This Special Issue is designed to exemplify the current use of metabolomics studies of temperate and tropical fruit for basic research as well as practical applications. It includes articles about different aspects of fruit biochemical phenotyping, fruit metabolism before and after harvest, including primary and specialized metabolisms, and bioactive compounds involved in growth and environmental responses. The effect of genotype, stages of development or fruit tissue on metabolomic profiles and corresponding metabolism regulations are addressed, as well as the combination of other omics with metabolomics for fruit metabolism studies.

Recent progress in metabolomics research: insights into fruit metabolome, harvesting techniques and health‐promoting bioactives

“…Here, the use of sensory evaluations in conjunction with non-targeted metabolite profiling by ultraperformance liquid chromatography-Orbitrap-MS/MS (UPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS) profiling revealed similarities and differences between wines produced with various grape cluster types and each obtained from three putative clones of Vitis vinifera grown in identical field environments. Additionally, a group of molecular characteristics (metabolite markers) that were linked to these sensory aspects were chosen (Moing et al, 2020).…”

“…Similar to this, a variety of chemicals that give antioxidant properties were discovered based on targeted and untargeted metabolite profiling and antioxidant tests on selected Australian native fruits. The latter results create new opportunities for employing these native fruits in the food and nutraceutical sectors (Moing et al ., 2020). Although marker metabolites in fruit juices have previously been investigated for therapeutic activities (Fig.…”

“…Here, the use of sensory evaluations in conjunction with non‐targeted metabolite profiling by ultraperformance liquid chromatography‐Orbitrap‐MS/MS (UPLC‐Orbitrap‐MS/MS) profiling revealed similarities and differences between wines produced with various grape cluster types and each obtained from three putative clones of Vitis vinifera grown in identical field environments. Additionally, a group of molecular characteristics (metabolite markers) that were linked to these sensory aspects were chosen (Moing et al ., 2020). Similarly, the metabolic profile of fresh orange juice from Calabria was examined using NMR spectroscopy, as well as any metabolic changes that occurred as a result of the industrial heating process used to produce concentrated juices (Salvino et al ., 2021) In another study, a combination of metabolomics and proteomics reveals the regulatory pathways governing the quality and ripening of post‐harvest kiwi fruits (Tian et al ., 2021).…”