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Postharvest Physiology, Biochemistry and Sustainable Management of Plant Genetic Resources

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A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Postharvest Biology, Quality, Safety, and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 10840

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Virgilio Gavicho Uarrota

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Institute of Agri-Food, Animal and Environmental Sciences (ICA3), Universidad de O'Higgins, San Fernando 3070000, Chile
Interests: postharvest physiology; management; plant genetic resources; fruit disorders; crop plants; orphan crops; climate change; metabolic profiling

Dr. Noshin Ilyas

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Department of Botany, PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
Interests: plant–microbe interaction; stress physiology; environmental remediation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Marcelo Maraschin

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Morphogenesis and Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant Sciences, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88049900, SC, Brazil
Interests: plant biochemistry; analytical methods; chemistry of natural products; metabolomics; chemometrics; pattern recognition techniques; analytical biochemistry; plant secondary metabolism

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plant genetic resources (PGRs) represent unique global heritage, and their conservation and use are of immediate importance. In the last decade, there has been an ongoing revolution in the exploration, manipulation, and synthesis of biological systems by developing new technologies that generate, analyze, and utilize big data. Users of plant genetic resources can potentially leverage these capacities to significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their efforts to conserve, discover, and exploit novel properties of PGRs and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. On the other hand, Postharvest Physiology and Biochemistry of Fruits and Vegetables presents an updated, coherent and sequenced view of the contribution of fruits and vegetables to human health, their aspects of plant metabolism, physical and chemical changes throughout the life cycle of fruit development, physiological disturbances and biochemical effects of modified or controlled atmospheres and the biotechnology of horticultural crops.

It is therefore necessary to assess plant genetic resources and the post-harvest physiology and biochemistry of horticultural plants in the context of climate change, and to deepen our understanding of abiotic and biotic stressors and characterize their adaptation mechanisms. This Special Issue welcomes studies on the physiology, biochemistry and effects of various biotic and abiotic stressors in different horticultural crops and on the sustainable management of plant genetic resources.

Dr. Virgilio Gavicho Uarrota
Dr. Noshin Ilyas
Prof. Dr. Marcelo Maraschin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

biochemistry of plants
climate change
management of plant genetic resources
physiology of horticultural plants
postharvest disorders
sustainable agriculture

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 1021 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sensory Evaluation, Biochemical, Bioactive and Antioxidant Properties in Fruits of Wild Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa L.) Genotypes from Northeastern Türkiye

by Gulce Ilhan

Horticulturae 2023, 9(9), 1052; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9091052 - 19 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 948

Abstract

Wild edible fruits are an important source for agriculture worldwide suffering from genetic erosion due to a severe genetic diversity reduction and domestication hindrance. In Türkiye, underutilized Prunus spinosa fruits are increasingly being considered as genetic resources and are marginally used by small farmers constituting a real safety valve for the sustainability of the processing plum value chain. Fruits of those plum genotypes differ in their biometric, processing and functional quality attributes. In this study, fruits of eight wild grown blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) genotypes were sampled from the Ispir district of the Erzurum province and subjected to sensory, morphological, biochemical and antioxidant characterization. Aroma, taste and juiciness were used as the criteria for sensory analysis, and a trained panel of ten experts established and evaluated the sensory characteristics of the fruits of the blackthorn. Fruit weight, fruit skin and flesh color as L*, a* and b* values were the main morphological parameters. For biochemical and bioactive analysis, organic acids, SSC (Soluble Solid Content), vitamin C, total anthocyanins, total phenolic content and total antioxidant capacity were determined. Antioxidant capacity was determined by FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) assay. The results indicated significant differences among genotypes for most of the traits. The fruit weight was found between 2.78–3.67 g. The skin L*, a* and b* values were 13.11–16.12, 2.56–3.85 and 2.01–3.44, respectively. The flesh L*, a* and b* values were in the ranges of 17.45–20.37, 4.88–6.73 and 4.12–5.66, respectively. The SSC content ranged from 18.66% to 21.07%. The total phenolic content (TPC), total anthocyanin content (TAC) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) were between 372–504 mg GAE/100 g; 53–72 mg cy-3 g eq./100 g and 107–134 mmol Fe (II) eq./g, respectively. The dominant organic acid was malic acid for all genotypes and varied from 1.04 g/100 g to 1.52 g/100 g fresh weight base. The data showed that the analyzed blackthorns, particularly PS-5, PS-3 and PS-2 had bigger fruits indicate their suitability for fresh and dried consumption, PS-1 and PS-3 had higher juiciness, indicating their suitability for processing, and PS-4 and PS-6 had higher human health promoting compounds (higher total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity), making them suitable for future use as functional foods and as promising sources of natural antioxidants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Postharvest Physiology, Biochemistry and Sustainable Management of Plant Genetic Resources)

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10 pages, 2454 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceCommunication

Metabolomics Reveals Specific Metabolic Changes in Sweet Cherries (Prunus avium L.) Subjected to Postharvest Treatment with Melatonin after Mechanical Stress

by Ignacia Hernández, Excequel Ponce, Juan Vidal, Rosana Chirinos, David Campos, Romina Pedreschi and Claudia Fuentealba

Horticulturae 2023, 9(8), 940; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9080940 - 18 Aug 2023

Viewed by 838

Abstract

Sweet cherry may develop surface pitting during prolonged cold storage, and susceptibility among varieties is related to metabolites in response to cold and mechanical damage. This study aimed to evaluate the metabolic changes in sweet cherry fruits subjected to melatonin treatment and induced surface pitting. Melatonin (400 µM) was applied to sweet cherries before pitting induction and then stored at 1 °C for 20 d. Melatonin treatment attenuated the severity of pitting damage during cold storage, with an average severity value of 3.1 for cherries with melatonin and 2.6 without melatonin. In addition, melatonin application appeared to modulate metabolic responses due to the regulation of metabolic pathways related to abiotic stress. Upregulation of different secondary metabolites was observed after 16 h of melatonin treatment and cold storage. Moreover, some metabolites of the sphingolipid and sulfur metabolism were upregulated after 10 d. This research is the first to show that melatonin may influence the response of sweet cherries to cold and mechanical damage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Postharvest Physiology, Biochemistry and Sustainable Management of Plant Genetic Resources)

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17 pages, 2115 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Aqueous n-Butanol Treatments on Shelf-Life Extension of Longkong Fruit during Ambient Storage

by Narin Charoenphun, Ali Muhammed Moula Ali, Balaji Paulraj and Karthikeyan Venkatachalam

Horticulturae 2023, 9(8), 938; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9080938 - 17 Aug 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1148

Abstract

The pericarp of the Longkong fruit rapidly browns during ambient storage, typically reducing its shelf life to between 3 and 7 days. Recently, n-butanol has demonstrated a promising effect in preventing this deterioration, extending the shelf life of tropical fruits to more than a week. The present study exploited this opportunity to examine the exogenous application of aqueous n-butanol at various concentrations (0.2–0.6%) in controlling pericarp browning and suppressing different oxidoreductase enzymes in the pericarp under prolonged ambient storage conditions (8 days). Every two days, the fruit pericarps were tested for color (lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*)), browning index (BI), membrane permeability loss (MPL), malondialdehyde (MDA) content, total phenolic content (TPC), and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Enzymes including phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), phospholipase D (PLD), lipoxygenase (LOX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were also analyzed. All sample test results showed that increased storage significantly impacted color characteristics (decreased L*, b* and increased a*, and BI). MPL, MDA, and ROS also continuously increased. Furthermore, the browning-related enzymes (PAL and PPO), membrane-degrading enzymes (PLD and LOX), and antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, and GPX) continuously increased in all pericarp samples throughout the storage. Among the samples, pericarp color, BI, MPL, MDA, PAL, PPO, PLD, and LOX were significantly high in the control samples, consequently adversely affecting the quality and shelf life of Longkong. On the other hand, the n-butanol-treated samples significantly controlled the loss and all problematic enzymes while improving the activities of SOD, CAT, and GPX in the pericarp. Furthermore, the positive effect of n-butanol application was dose-dependent; higher concentrations (0.4–0.6%) performed well in protecting the fruit from deterioration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Postharvest Physiology, Biochemistry and Sustainable Management of Plant Genetic Resources)

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14 pages, 3273 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Red Visible Lighting on Postharvest Ripening of Bananas via the Regulation of Energy Metabolism

by Xinqun Zhou, Jianhu Cheng, Jing Sun, Shuzhen Guo, Xuexia Guo, Quan Chen, Xiaomei Wang, Xuan Zhu and Bangdi Liu

Horticulturae 2023, 9(7), 840; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9070840 - 23 Jul 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1799

Abstract

The mechanism by which LED red light irradiation regulates postharvest banana ripening was evaluated in this study by the continuous irradiation of banana fruits at the mature-green stage. In this study, a self-developed LED banana fresh-keeping container lid was used to continuously irradiate the immature banana fruit. The light wavelength was 655.0 ± 1.0 nm, the light intensity was 800.0 ± 10.0 LX, and the height between the LED lamp and the fruit was 15.0 ± 0.5 cm. Bananas stored under dark conditions were used as the negative control group, and bananas stored under dark conditions after spraying with 500.0 mg/L ethephon diluent were used as the positive control group. Changes in physiological parameters related to postharvest banana ripening, such as the respiration rate, ethylene release, texture, color, carotenoid content, chlorophyll content, adenosine triphosphate content, and energy metabolism-related enzyme activities, were measured during 8 days of storage at 20.0 ± 0.1 °C to analyze the key factors determining postharvest banana ripening in response to red light. The red light-irradiated bananas had higher total color differences and higher rates of chlorophyll degradation and carotenoid synthesis than those of the ethephon-treated group during the storage period. Red light irradiation promoted banana fruit ripening and senescence mainly by promoting carotenoid synthesis, capturing absorbed light energy, accelerating energy metabolism, effectively enhancing the activities of the respiratory and energy metabolism-related enzymes H⁺ adenosine triphosphatase, Ca²⁺ adenosine triphosphatase, succinate dehydrogenase, cytochrome C oxidase, and malic enzyme, and promoting organic acid degradation. In conclusion, LED red light can be used as a new physical ripening technology for bananas, with a similar effect to that of traditional ethephon treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Postharvest Physiology, Biochemistry and Sustainable Management of Plant Genetic Resources)

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17 pages, 2956 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effectiveness of Natural-Based Coatings on Sweet Oranges Post-Harvest Life and Antioxidant Capacity of Obtained By-Products

by Deived Uilian de Carvalho, Carmen Silvia Vieira Janeiro Neves, Maria Aparecida da Cruz, Ronan Carlos Colombo, Fernando Alferez and Rui Pereira Leite Junior

Horticulturae 2023, 9(6), 635; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9060635 - 29 May 2023

Viewed by 1480

Abstract

The use of natural-based coatings is an eco-friendly approach that can be applied in citrus postharvest to preserve fruit quality and to prolong shelf life. Additionally, the study of antioxidant capacity of obtained by-products from fruits is of great value to mitigate better practices to manage the residues left from the juice processing industry. Under this context, the aim of this study was to investigate the use of carnauba wax/wood resin-based coating and cold storage on postharvest life of Valencia Late and Natal IAC sweet oranges, as well as the physicochemical quality and antioxidant capacity of its by-products. Mature fruits were harvested in 2019 and 2020 seasons. Initially, fruits were assessed for physicochemical quality and antioxidant capacity. Then, fruits were treated with carnauba wax and wood resin mixture and stored for 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 days in a cold chamber. Fruit color index, weight loss, physicochemical quality and sensory profile of the fruits were monitored at harvest and during each cold storage period. Evaluations were performed in triplicates of 10-fruit. Valencia Late and Natal IAC fruits had proper quality in both years, attending the requirements of the fresh market and processing industry. Flavedo and albedo section displayed the highest concentration of bioactive compounds such as phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidant activity. The coating treatment associated with cold storage was efficient to preserve fruit color and to retard weight loss for both varieties up to 60 days. The sensory profile and quality of the carnauba wax/wood resin treated fruits were preserved all over the cold storage period, while uncoated fruits ranked low for most of the sensory attributes. Together, Valencia Late and Natal IAC fruits contain a high level of healthy beneficial compounds, which may be exploited as a natural source of low-cost antioxidants. Further, carnauba wax/wood resin coating associated with cold storage effectively reduce weight loss and color progression in sweet orange fruits, in addition to preserving overall physicochemical and sensory quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Postharvest Physiology, Biochemistry and Sustainable Management of Plant Genetic Resources)

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10 pages, 1695 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Differences in Lipid Metabolism, Polar Metabolites, and Phenolics in Persea americana under Two Storage Conditions

by Virgilio Gavicho Uarrota

Horticulturae 2023, 9(2), 234; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9020234 - 09 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1180

Abstract

Harvested avocado fruits can be potentially exposed both to pre- and post-harvest factors that may influence the susceptibility of fruit to quality loss. Regular air (RA) storage consists of approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.3% carbon dioxide, and smaller amounts of some other gasses. A controlled atmosphere (CA) is a changed atmosphere that is used to delay respiration and reduce fungal and physiological deterioration, and it is an appropriate and practical technology for prolonging the shelf life and maintaining the quality of fruits on a large scale. An experiment was conducted by collecting fruits from two different avocado orchards (Bartolillo and Quilhuica) during two harvest seasons based on dry matter content and two subsequent years. The current study was designed to investigate the changes in polar metabolites, phenolic compounds, and fatty acids in the skin of Hass avocados stored under two distinct conditions. Bartolillo orchard fruits were mostly correlated to linoleic and oleic acid as important variables. For Quilhuica, fruits were mostly correlated with palmitoleic, palmitic, and oleic acids. Phenolic content increased at the beginning of storage and decreased at the end of storage for one orchard and contrarily for others, indicating that the result was dependent on the orchard and storage condition. Serine, glutaric acid, xylitol and D-mannitol were the polar metabolites that most correlated with fruits of the Quilhuica orchard while ß-sitosterol and gluconic were related to fruits of the Bartolillo orchard. The differences in fatty acids, polar metabolites and phenolics were dependent on orchard and storage conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Postharvest Physiology, Biochemistry and Sustainable Management of Plant Genetic Resources)

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Review

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13 pages, 1133 KiB

Open AccessReview

Genetically Modified Plants Based on Bacillus Genes and Commercial Bacillus-Based Biopesticides for Sustainable Agriculture

by Aurelio Ortiz and Estibaliz Sansinenea

Horticulturae 2023, 9(9), 963; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9090963 - 24 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1619

Abstract

Due to the increase in the global population, there is an urgent call to enhance the crop production through sustainable agriculture. Biological control is a possible solution. There are many examples of biological control agents applied to different crops that have improved their yield or quality, including vegetable and fruit crops and ornamental plants. The Bacillus species have been used as powerful tools since they suppress plant pathogens and promote plant growth as well. During the last five decades, B. thuringiensis has been used as biopesticide in several crops. However, it has some disadvantages such as its instability under field conditions due to sunlight; therefore, frequent applications are necessary, making its use more expensive. To solve this problem, genetically modified crops have been employed to allow the plant to express the toxin in the whole plant. Genetic engineering is a method used to make changes in the genetic material of an organism using scientific techniques. Therefore, genetic engineering opens up opportunities for creating genetically modified plants to increase crop yields and avoid pests. Genetically modified (GM) crops have been cultivated during the last three decades. Transgenic plant technology can be used to address global food scarcity, particularly in developing countries. Genetically modified organisms are a controversial topic that needs to be considered more carefully. Many toxicology studies have confirmed that Bt microbial formulations are safe for consumption. In this review, we will revise the application of Bacillus genes and Bacillus formulations to crops and their safety for human health to provide a more comprehensive understanding of this topic. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Postharvest Physiology, Biochemistry and Sustainable Management of Plant Genetic Resources)

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