The fading distinctions between classical patterns of ripening in climacteric and non-climacteric fruit and the ubiquity of ethylene—An overview

Abstract

The process of fruit ripening is normally viewed distinctly in climacteric and non-climacteric fruits. But, many fruits such as guava, melon, Japanese plum, Asian pear and pepper show climacteric as well as non-climacteric behaviour depending on the cultivar or genotype. Investigations on in planta levels of CO 2 and ethylene at various stages of fruits during ripening supported the role and involvement of changes in the rate of respiration and ethylene production in non-climacteric fruits such as strawberry, grapes and citrus. Non-climacteric fruits are also reported to respond to the exogenous application of ethylene. Comparative analysis of plant-attached and plant-detached fruits did not show similarity in their ripening behaviour. This disparity is being explained in view of 1. Hypothetical ripening inhibitor, 2. Differences in the production, release and endogenous levels of ethylene, 3. Sensitivity of fruits towards ethylene and 4. Variations in the gaseous microenvironment among fruits and their varieties. Detailed studies on genetic and inheritance patterns along with the application of '-omics' research indicated that ethylene-dependent and ethylene-independent pathways coexist in both climacteric and non-climacteric fruits. Auxin levels also interact with ethylene in regulating ripening. These findings therefore reveal that the classification of fruits based on climacteric rise and/or ethylene production status is not very distinct or perfect. However, presence of a characteristic rise in CO 2 levels and a burst in ethylene production in some non-climacteric fruits as well as the presence of system 2 of ethylene production point to a ubiquitous role for ethylene in fruit ripening.

Formação e maturação da uva e os efeitos sobre os vinhos: Revisão

“…O crescimento do bago da uva apresenta padrão duplo sigmoide (Figuras 2, 3 e 4), resultando em dois estágios consecutivos de crescimento, separados por uma fase limitada de ganho de massa (Winkler et al, 1974;Coombe e McCarthy, 2000;Kennedy et al, 2000;Keller, 2010;Paul et al, 2012). Com a frutificação, vingamento ou fixação dos frutos (fruit set), ocorrem inicialmente, o desenvolvimento das estruturas das sementes e o aumento significativo no número de células do exocarpo e do endocarpo.…”

“…A maior parte do crescimento das sementes ocorre nesta primeira fase do desenvolvimento das bagas (Ollat et al, 2002;Ristic e Iland, 2005). A atividade respiratória é elevada e vai reduzindo gradualmente, apresentando típico padrão de frutos não climatéricos (Figura 2) (Paul et al, 2012).…”

“…Elaborado a partir de Fregoni (1999) (massa fresca, diâmetro e volume, taxa de crescimento), Coombe e McCarty (2000) (volume da baga, deformação, fluxo no floema e fluxo no xilema), Dokoozlian (2000) (número de células), Kennedy et al (2000) (massa da semente), Ollat et al (2002) Physical and structural changes during berries development. Elaborated from Fregoni (1999) (fresh mass, diameter and volume, growth rate), Coombe and McCarty (2000) (volume, deformation, flow in the phloem and flow in the xylem), Dokoozlian (2000) (number of cells), Kennedy et al (2000) (seed mass), Ollat et al (2002) (fresh mass, growth rate, respiration rate), Ristic e Iland (2005) (seed mass) and Paul et al (2012) (respiration rate).…”

Role of internal atmosphere on fruit ripening and storability—a review

“…Physiological and biochemical differences and also the variations in the levels of ethylene, CO 2 and O 2 etc. for the plant-attached and plant-detached fruits for both the categories of fruits i.e., climacteric and non-climacteric were described along with their roles on the process of fruit ripening and in explaining the existing varietal variability in the rate of fruit ripening by Paul et al (2011a).…”

“…A definite ethylene-mediated stimulation of respiration was however noticed in the peel of citrus fruits (non-climacteric) during their ripening (Goldschmidt 1997). Recently, it was pointed out by Paul et al (2011a) that more information on the interactive and regulatory aspects of ethylene on the respiration (specially at biochemical and molecular levels) are required.…”