Effect of ethylene and 1-MCP treatments on strawberry fruit ripening

VILLARREAL N.¹, BUSTAMANTE C.¹, CIVELLO P., MARTÍNEZ G. ¹: AMBOS AUTORES CONTRIBUYERON IGUALMENTE A ESTE TRABAJO

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD

Año: 2010 vol. 90 p. 683 - 689

0022-5142

Strawberry fruit were harvested at the white stage and treated with ethephon, an ethylene-releasing reagent, or 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), a competitive inhibitor of ethylene action. The effects of the treatments on fruit quality parameters and on the activity of enzymes related to anthocyanin synthesis and cell wall degradation were evaluated. Some aspects of ripening were accelerated (anthocyanin accumulation, total sugar content and increment of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL; EC 4.3.1.24) and β-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.23) activities), while others were repressed (chlorophyll levels and increment of endo-1,4-β-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.4) and β-xylosidase (EC 3.2.1.37) activities) or unchanged (reducing sugar content, pH, titratable acidity and α-L-arabinofuranosidase (EC 3.2.1.55) activity) by ethylene. 1-MCP treatment caused the opposite effect. However, its effects were more pronounced, particularly in anthocyanin accumulation, phenolics, PAL and polygalacturonase (EC 3.2.1.15 and EC 3.2.1.67) activities.