Nitric oxide improves the effect of 1-methylcyclopropene extending the tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum L.) fruit postharvest life.

STEELHEART, CHARLOTTE; ALEGRE, MATÍAS LEONEL; VERA BAHIMA, JOSÉ; SENN, MARÍA EUGENIA; SIMONTACCHI, MARCELA; BARTOLI, CARLOS GUILLERMO; GERGOFF GROZEFF, GUSTAVO ESTEBAN

SCIENTIA HORTICULTURAE

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2019 vol. 255 p. 193 - 201

0304-4238

Tomato fruit ripening and postharvest display a complex net of metabolic pathways, which are controlled bydifferent signaling molecules and hormones that coordinate this physiological process. The inhibition of theethylene action with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) has proved to be an excellent tool for maintaining fruitquality during postharvest. Along with these findings, nitric oxide (NO) demonstrated different effects on severalspecies in fruit postharvest. The aim of this work was to evaluate the joint effect of 1-MCP and a NO donor (Snitrosoglutathione,GSNO) during tomato postharvest at 23 °C. Breaker tomatoes were harvested from a localgrower and divided in the following treatments: untreated, 1mM GSNO, 0.5 μL L−1 of 1-MCP, and the combinationof 1mM GSNO+0.5 μL L−1 1-MCP. Fruit was stored at 23 °C and analyzed after 5 and 10 d. According tothe results, the combination of 1-MCP and the NO donor delayed fruit softening at days 5 and 10, reduced theethylene synthesis significantly at day 5 and elevated the respiration rate at 10 d, compared to the individualtreatments of 1-MCP and GSNO alone. However, the solely application of 1-MCP, independently from the additionof GSNO, showed a strong effect in the rise of the total titratable acidity content, together with the citricacid content. 1-MCP also up-regulated the CAT, SOD and POD activities at 5 and 10 d after harvest. Thesefindings may suggest that some fruit quality parameters in tomato postharvest are controlled by ethylene, whileothers need the coordination of nitric oxide as a signal molecule.