New insights into the cell wall preservation by 1-methylcyclopropene treatment in harvest-ripe strawberry fruit

LANGER, SILVIA E.; MARINA, MARÍA; FRANCESE, PAOLA; CIVELLO, PEDRO M.; MARTINEZ, GUSTAVO A.; VILLARREAL, NATALIA M.

SCIENTIA HORTICULTURAE

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2022 vol. 299

0304-4238

The purpose of the present work was to provide novel knowledge about themechanisms underlying the preservation of strawberry fruit by 1-methylcyclopropene(1-MCP) treatment during storage. Harvest-ripe strawberries were treated with 1-MCPfor ten hours at 22 °C and then stored for ten days at 4 °C and two days at 20 °C. 1-MCP treatment significantly delayed the loss of fruit firmness and the accumulation ofanthocyanins during storage, whereas sustained pH, titratable acidity, total sugars, andphenolic compounds values. 1-MCP treatment reduced the in vitro growth of fungalpathogens Botrytis cinerea and Rhizopus stolonifer when using isolated fruit cellwalls as only carbon source. Also, 1-MCP treatment was effective in delaying theappearance of fungal lesions and reducing their severity in comparison with nontreatedfruit. 1-MCP treated fruit showed higher amounts of ionically bounded pectinsand hemicellulose fractions than controls. Treated fruit showed an increase of pectinmethylesterase activity, and the inhibition of polygalacturonase, β-galactosidase, α-arabinofuranosidase, and β-xylosidase activities. 1-MCP application modified theexpression of relevant genes related to strawberry fruit firmness, increasing theFaPME1 and FaXTH1 mRNA abundance and down-regulating FaPG1 , FaPLC,and FaXTH2 expression. Treatment delayed the in vitro cell wall swelling and thecollapse of the hemicellulose-cellulose mesh during storage. The effect of 1-MCP onthe cell wall composition and its accessibility to necrotrophic pathogens through an upregulationof endogenous pectin methylesterases and xyloglucan transglycosylasesand a down-regulation of lyases and hydrolases is the first report in commercial-ripestrawberries. Moreover, the effect of 1-MCP treatment combined with a dip in a CaCl 2solution on the firmness of strawberry fruit was evaluated. As a result, 1-MCP/CaCl 2treatment rendered significantly firmer fruit when compared with control, and also with1-MCP, or CaCl 2 individual applications.