Application of Methyl Jasmonate to Papaya Fruit Stored at Lower Temperature Attenuates Chilling Injury and Enhances the Antioxidant System to Maintain Quality
Jianhui Li,
Muhammad Azam,
Amtal Noreen,
Muhammad Ali Umer,
Riadh Ilahy,
Muhammad Tahir Akram,
Rashad Qadri,
Muhammad Arslan Khan,
Shoaib ur Rehman,
Imtiaz Hussain,
Qiong Lin,
Hongru Liu
Affiliations
Jianhui Li
College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Quzhou University, Quzhou 324000, China
Muhammad Azam
Pomology Laboratory, Institute of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Amtal Noreen
Pomology Laboratory, Institute of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Muhammad Ali Umer
Pomology Laboratory, Institute of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Riadh Ilahy
Laboratory of Horticulture, National Agricultural Research Institute of Tunisia (INRAT), University of Carthage, Ariana 1054, Tunisia
Muhammad Tahir Akram
Department of Horticulture, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
Rashad Qadri
Pomology Laboratory, Institute of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Muhammad Arslan Khan
Pomology Laboratory, Institute of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
Shoaib ur Rehman
Department of Horticulture, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Sub Campus Depalpur, Okara 53600, Pakistan
Imtiaz Hussain
Winrock International, Sindh 71000, Pakistan
Qiong Lin
Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Beijing 100081, China
Hongru Liu
Institute of Crop Breeding & Cultivation Research, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai 201403, China
Papaya fruit has a limited shelf life due to its sensitivity to decay and chilling damage during cold storage. The application of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is known to reduce the incidence of disease and chilling injury, and to maintain the overall quality of the papaya fruit when stored at low temperature. Consequently, the effects of postharvest MeJA (1 mM) immersion on papaya fruits during low-temperature storage (10 °C ± 2 °C) for 28 days were studied. The experiment revealed that MeJA treatment significantly decreased the papaya fruit’s weight loss, disease incidence, and chilling injury index. Furthermore, the accumulation of malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide was markedly lower after the application of MeJA. In addition, MeJA treatment exhibited significantly higher total phenols, ascorbic acid, antioxidant activity, and titratable acidity in contrast to the control. Similarly, MeJA-treated papaya fruits showed higher antioxidant enzymatic activity (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase enzymes) with respect to the control fruits. In addition, MeJA reduced the soluble solids content, ripening index, pH, and sugar contents compared to the control fruits. Furthermore, MeJA-treated papaya fruit exhibited higher sensory and organoleptic quality attributes with respect to untreated papaya fruits. These findings suggested that postharvest MeJA application might be a useful approach for attenuating disease incidence and preventing chilling injury by enhancing antioxidant activities along with enhanced overall quality of papaya fruits during low-temperature storage.
