Post-Harvest LED Light Irradiation Affects Firmness, Bioactive Substances, and Amino Acid Compositions in Chili Pepper (<i>Capsicum annum</i> L.)
Chaochao Liu,
Hongjian Wan,
Youxin Yang,
Qingjing Ye,
Guozhi Zhou,
Xiaorong Wang,
Golam Jalal Ahammed,
Yuan Cheng
Affiliations
Chaochao Liu
College of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212018, China
Hongjian Wan
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Vegetables, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Youxin Yang
Jiangxi Key Laboratory for Postharvest Technology and Nondestructive Testing of Fruits &Vegetables, Collaborative Innovation Center of Post-Harvest Key Technology and Quality Safety of Fruits and Vegetables, College of Agronomy, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China
Qingjing Ye
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Vegetables, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Guozhi Zhou
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Vegetables, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Xiaorong Wang
Institute of Manage Science and Engineering, College of Hebei Architecture and Civil Engineering, Zhangjiakou 075132, China
Golam Jalal Ahammed
College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China
Yuan Cheng
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Vegetables, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Chili pepper is an important vegetable and spice crop with high post-harvest deteriorations in terms of commercial and nutritional quality. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are eco-friendly light sources with various light spectra that have been demonstrated to improve the shelf-life of various vegetables by manipulating light quality; however, little is known about their effects on the post-harvest nutritional quality of chili peppers. This study investigated the effects of different LED lightings on the post-harvest firmness and nutritional quality of chili peppers. We found that red and blue light could increase the content of capsaicinoids, whereas white and red light could increase the essential and aromatic amino acid (AA) content in pepper. Nonetheless, the influence of light treatments on AA contents and compositions depends strongly on the pepper genotype, which was reflected by total AA content, single AA content, essential AA ratio, delicious AA ratio, etc., that change under different light treatments. Additionally, light affected fruit firmness and the content of nutrients such as chlorophyll, vitamin C, and total carotenoids, to varying degrees, depending on pepper genotypes. Thus, our findings indicate that LED-light irradiation is an efficient and promising strategy for preserving or improving the post-harvest commercial and nutritional quality of pepper fruit.
