Maintenance of Postharvest Quality and Reactive Oxygen Species Homeostasis of Pitaya Fruit by Essential Oil <i>p</i>-Anisaldehyde Treatment
Yanmei Xu,
Zhijun Cai,
Liangjie Ba,
Yonghua Qin,
Xinguo Su,
Donglan Luo,
Wei Shan,
Jianfei Kuang,
Wangjin Lu,
Liling Li,
Jianye Chen,
Yating Zhao
Affiliations
Yanmei Xu
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Postharvest Science of Fruits and Vegetables, Engineering Research Center of Southern Horticultural Products Preservation, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Zhijun Cai
College of Food and Drug, Liaoning Agricultural Technical College, Yingkou 115009, China
Liangjie Ba
School of Food and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Guizhou Engineering Research Center for Fruit Processing, Guiyang University, Guiyang 550003, China
Yonghua Qin
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Postharvest Science of Fruits and Vegetables, Engineering Research Center of Southern Horticultural Products Preservation, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Xinguo Su
Guangdong AIB Polytechnic, Guangzhou 510507, China
Donglan Luo
School of Food and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Guizhou Engineering Research Center for Fruit Processing, Guiyang University, Guiyang 550003, China
Wei Shan
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Postharvest Science of Fruits and Vegetables, Engineering Research Center of Southern Horticultural Products Preservation, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Jianfei Kuang
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Postharvest Science of Fruits and Vegetables, Engineering Research Center of Southern Horticultural Products Preservation, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Wangjin Lu
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Postharvest Science of Fruits and Vegetables, Engineering Research Center of Southern Horticultural Products Preservation, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Liling Li
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Postharvest Science of Fruits and Vegetables, Engineering Research Center of Southern Horticultural Products Preservation, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Jianye Chen
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Postharvest Science of Fruits and Vegetables, Engineering Research Center of Southern Horticultural Products Preservation, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Yating Zhao
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Postharvest Science of Fruits and Vegetables, Engineering Research Center of Southern Horticultural Products Preservation, Ministry of Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
The performance of p-Anisaldehyde (PAA) for preserving pitaya fruit quality and the underpinning regulatory mechanism were investigated in this study. Results showed that PAA treatment significantly reduced fruit decay, weight loss and loss of firmness, and maintained higher content of total soluble solids, betacyanins, betaxanthins, total phenolics and flavonoids in postharvest pitaya fruits. Compared with control, the increase in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content and superoxide anion (O2•−) production was inhibited in fruit treated with PAA. Meanwhile, PAA significantly improved the activity of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT). Moreover, PAA-treated pitaya fruit maintained higher ascorbic acid (AsA) and reduced-glutathione (GSH) content but lower dehydroascorbate (DHA) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) content, thus sustaining higher ratio of AsA/DHA and GSH/GSSG. In addition, activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) and dehydrogenation ascorbic acid reductase (DHAR), as well as the expression of HpSOD, HpPOD, HpCAT, HpAPX, HpGR, HpDHAR and HpMDHAR, were enhanced after PAA treatment. The findings suggest that postharvest application of PAA may be a reliable method to control postharvest decay and preserve quality of harvested pitaya fruit by enhancing the antioxidant potential of the AsA-GSH cycle and activating an antioxidant defense system to alleviate reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation.
