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Recent Advancements in Postharvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism

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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: 15 June 2024 | Viewed by 13965

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yuduan Ding

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Guest Editor

College of Horticulture, Agricultural Science Building, South Campus of Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712199, China
Interests: our team engage in scientific research and education in postharvest biology and molecular biology of horticultural products (apple and kiwifruit)

Prof. Dr. Xiaolin Ren

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

College of Horticulture, Agricultural Science Building, South Campus of Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712199, China
Interests: post-harvest physiology and molecular biology; preservation technique; post-harvest treatment

Dr. Yanrong Lv

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

College of Horticulture, Agricultural Science Building, South Campus of Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712199, China
Interests: fruit quality; storage; post-harvest physiology; preservation technique of fruit

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Horticultural commodities are important factors in human nutrition and health. However, depending on commodity and region, significant amounts are lost or wasted globally every year. The post-harvest management of fruits requires a thorough knowledge of their nature, physiology, and responses to the surrounding environment.

This Special Issue on 'Recent advancements in Post-Harvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism’ is exclusively devoted to the publication of original papers, review articles, and frontiers articles on these concerns about the biological and technological post-harvest research of horticultural fruit crops. All aspects of post-harvest science will be considered, including pre-harvest factors, ripening and senescence, product safety, systems biology, bioinformatics, entomology, plant physiology, plant pathology, (bio)chemistry, molecular biology, biotechnology, engineering, and modeling. Manuscripts on the effect of treatments on the storage life of a product should have a mechanistic component and must include research on the physiological effects and working principles of the treatments.

Dr. Yuduan Ding
Prof. Dr. Xiaolin Ren
Dr. Yanrong Lv
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

post-harvest
fruit quality
storage
senescence
ripening
pathology

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3694 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Sweet Cherry Fruit Firmness Evaluation Using Compression Distance Methods

by Maria Karageorgiadou, Maria Rodovitou, Elpida Nasiopoulou, Vaia Styliani Titeli and Michail Michailidis

Horticulturae 2024, 10(5), 435; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10050435 - 24 Apr 2024

Abstract

Flesh firmness in sweet cherries is determined using the measurement of normalized deformation force, i.e., determining the required force for a distance equal to 5 or 10% of the diameter of the cherries per millimeter. However, a firmness method involving a defined distance is quite simple and suitable for easy applications. Hence, our study focuses on the impact of fruit physiology under various and fixed distances. To assess the firmness evaluation, two sweet cherry cultivars (Canada Giant and Regina) were selected and subjected to three different levels of compression distance equal to 1%, 5%, 10% of the fruit’s small thickness dimension along with a consistent compression distance of 0.16 mm. There was a strong correlation between panelists’ preferences and the fruit that had been subjected to both a 1% deformation force and a fixed distance of 0.16 mm within each cultivar. Physiological traits, membrane integrity, and the metabolome of the fruit in these categories were mostly unaffected by the control (0%), or 1%, deformation force, as shown by clustering and PCA analysis. The control and 1% deformation force groups showed similar patterns, contrary to those of the 5% and 10% deformation force groups. Given these considerations, a fixed distance of 0.16 mm and a minimal 1% deformation force possess the potential to be employed and implemented for monitoring the firmness of sweet cherries during postharvest preservation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Postharvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism)

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14 pages, 1400 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Chitosan Coating Incorporated with Carvacrol Improves Postharvest Guava (Psidium guajava) Quality

by Chang Shu, Beatrice Kim-Lee and Xiuxiu Sun

Horticulturae 2024, 10(1), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10010080 - 14 Jan 2024

Viewed by 937

Abstract

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is an important economic crop grown widely in tropical and subtropical regions. Guava exhibits fast ripening and senescence as a climacteric fruit, causing a short shelf life and quality deterioration. Chitosan–essential oil nanoemulsions can be an edible coating used to improve postharvest quality attributes. In this study, chitosan was mixed with carvacrol to generate a nano-emulsoid solution containing 0.1 and 0.2% (v/v) carvacrol, using a sonic dismembrator. Guava fruit were coated with the above emulsion and postharvest quality parameters were measured during storage at 20 ± 1 °C and RH = 80 ± 5% for 8 days. The result illustrated that the particle size of the chitosan–carvacrol emulsions was nanoscale, and their high stability was demonstrated by the zeta potential and polydispersity index. Chitosan coating (2%, w/v, 310–375 kDa) containing 0.2% (v/v) carvacrol maintained postharvest quality compared to chitosan alone, with higher firmness, soluble solid content, total acid, and total phenol content, and lower weight loss and pericarp browning. The collective data were further verified by principal component analysis. A chitosan coating containing carvacrol can reduce postharvest losses. It can be applied as an effective strategy to improve postharvest fruit quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Postharvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism)

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14 pages, 4535 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

LED White Light Treatment Delays Postharvest Senescence of ‘Zaosu’ Pear Fruit with Inhibited Chlorophyll Degradation

by Hongbo Mi, Xu Zhou, Jun Yang, Jingxin Chen and Bin Liu

Horticulturae 2024, 10(1), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10010032 - 28 Dec 2023

Viewed by 860

Abstract

To investigate the effects of LED white light treatment (LWT) on the storage quality of postharvest ‘Zaosu’ pears, as well as its role in maintaining fruit greenness and delaying senescence, pear fruits were treated with intermittent irradiation using LED white light for 12 h per day, with a light source distance of 30 ± 1 cm and a photon flux density of 151 μmoL/(m²·s) at 25 °C. The results showed that LWT preserved the postharvest quality of ‘Zaosu’ pear fruit by reducing weight loss and ascorbic acid degradation and promoting the ratio of sugar and organic acid. Meanwhile, LWT also substantially inhibited the respiration intensity and ethylene production during the storage process. Accordingly, the expressions of genes related to ethylene biosynthesis and signaling were reduced in LWT fruit. Notably, LWT retarded the decrease in chlorophyll content of fruit by increasing the activities of enzymes associated with chlorophyll synthase. Additionally, LWT also suppressed the chlorophyll degradation-related enzymes and their gene expressions in pear peel. These findings suggest that a moderate light irradiation can delay the de-green progress and benefit post-harvest storage of ‘Zaosu’ pear. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Postharvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism)

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11 pages, 2253 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

A Combinatorial TIR1-Aux/IAA Co-Receptor System for Peach Fruit Softening

by Yutong Zhao, Qing Wang, Dan Guan, Haiqing Yang, Jianwei Wu and Yueping Liu

Horticulturae 2023, 9(7), 734; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9070734 - 23 Jun 2023

Viewed by 894

Abstract

Fruit softening is an important characteristic of peach fruit ripening. The auxin receptor TIR1 (Transport Inhibitor Response 1) plays an important role in plant growth and fruit maturation. Still, little research has been conducted on the relation of TIR1 to the softening of peach fruits. In this study, the hardness of isolated peach fruits was reduced under exogenous NAA treatment at low concentrations. At the same time, the low concentration of NAA treatment reduced the transcription level of PpPG and Ppβ-GAL genes related to cell wall softening and PpACS1 genes related to ethylene synthesis. The transient overexpression of the PpTIR1 gene in peach fruit blocks caused significant down-regulation of the expression of early auxin-responsive genes, ethylene synthesis, and cell wall metabolic genes related to fruit firmness. Through yeast two-hybrid technology, bimolecular fluorescence complementary technology, and a firefly luciferase complementation imaging assay, we were able to unveil an interaction between PpTIR1 and PpIAA1/3/5/9/27 proteins. Furthermore, it was determined that the interaction depended on auxin and its type and concentration. These results show that the PpTIR1-Aux/IAA module has a possible regulatory effect on fruit ripening and softening. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Postharvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism)

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18 pages, 2748 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Preharvest Applications of Oxalic Acid and Salicylic Acid Increase Fruit Firmness and Polyphenolic Content in Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.)

by Jorge Retamal-Salgado, Geber Adaos, George Cedeño-García, Sebastian Camilo Ospino-Olivella, Rosa Vergara-Retamales, María Dolores Lopéz, Raúl Olivares, Juan Hirzel, Héctor Olivares-Soto and Matías Betancur

Horticulturae 2023, 9(6), 639; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9060639 - 29 May 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1547

Abstract

Blueberry exports that imply transport times of more than 25 d deteriorate their quality. The use of elicitors in preharvest has shown positive effects on the quality of berries such as grapes. The objective of this study was to evaluate preharvest applications (21, 14, and 7 d before harvest) of oxalic acid (OA) and salicylic acid (SA) on fruit firmness and phenolic compounds in blueberry. The treatments of 0, 2, and 4 mM OA in ‘Kirra’ and 0, 2, and 4 mM SA are in ‘Stella blue’. With the earlier preharvest application, ‘Kirra’ presented better firmness than ‘Stella blue’; however, 2 mM OA and SA in both cultivars increased fruit firmness, maintaining its weight and diameter with respect to the control. It should be noted that the treatment with 2 mM SA generated a 100% increase in polyphenolic content and antioxidant capacity (p < 0.05) in ‘Stella Blue’, with values close to 140 mg gallic acid 100 g⁻¹ and 80 mg 100 g⁻¹ fresh weight (FW), respectively. In Kirra, OA treatments did not have a significant impact on the polyphenol content, but 4 mM OA increased by 100% and 20%, total anthocyanin and antioxidant capacity of blueberry fruit, respectively. Based on our results, three pre-harvest applications of OA and SA during the fruit development until the beginning of ripening improve fruit firmness by up to 20% at different times of harvest. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Postharvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism)

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15 pages, 2544 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Nisin on the Quality and Antioxidant Activity of Fresh-Cut Pumpkins (Cucurbita moschata Duch.)

by Ning Yuan, Yi Wang, Yuge Guan, Chen Chen and Wenzhong Hu

Horticulturae 2023, 9(5), 529; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9050529 - 24 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1104

Abstract

Fresh-cut pumpkins refer to fresh pumpkin that has been graded, cleaned, peeled, sliced, preserved, and packaged. It has the qualities of freshness, nutrition, convenience, and being 100% edible. However, mechanical damages during the cutting processing can accelerate the quality deterioration, aging, and loss of nutritional values of fresh-cut pumpkins. Nisin, a natural preservative, has been widely used in fruits and vegetables with good preservation effects. To investigate the effect of different concentrations (0, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 g/L) of nisin on the quality of fresh-cut pumpkins, the critical indexes involved in weight loss, firmness, color, respiration intensity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism, ascorbate (AsA)—glutathione (GSH) cycle, and antioxidant capacity were monitored for fresh-cut pumpkins during storage at 4 °C for 10 days. The results showed that 0.4 g/L nisin was the best preservation concentration. Compared with 0 g/L nisin, 0.4 g/L nisin reduced the weight loss rate and whitening rate of fresh-cut pumpkins by 13.53% and 13.61%, inhibited respiration rate by 45.83%, and maintained hardness by 1.18 times. Meanwhile, 0.4 g/L nisin increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR) and maintained higher contents of GSH and AsA. It prevented the rapid increase in ROS levels by improving antioxidant capacity, including DPPH, ABTS free radical scavenging rate, and T-AOC (total antioxidant capacity). The collected results showed that nisin has an obvious influence on the quality by regulating physiological and antioxidant activity metabolism. It is envisaged that the combination of nisin and physical and chemical preservation technology will further enhance the quality of fresh-cut pumpkins during storage in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Postharvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism)

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15 pages, 2343 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Different Cutting Methods Affect the Quality of Fresh-Cut Cucumbers by Regulating ROS Metabolism

by Yuge Guan, Wenzhong Hu, Lei Wang and Bailu Yang

Horticulturae 2023, 9(4), 514; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9040514 - 20 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1577

Abstract

Fresh-cut cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.) are appreciated by consumers for their convenience and freshness. In the process of home cooking and in the food industry, different cutting methods for cucumbers are needed. In order to explore the effect of cutting methods on the quality of fresh-cut cucumbers, cucumbers were cut into slices, pieces, and strips and whole cucumbers were used as the control. The results indicate that the vitamin C content of the sliced, pieced, and stripped cucumbers was gradually reduced, while the glutathione content increased significantly (p < 0.05) compared with the whole cucumbers. Furthermore, this study reveals that the fresh-cutting operation induced the production of ROS (O₂⁻· and H₂O₂). Simultaneously, cutting activates phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and peroxidase activity, which enhanced the total phenol content by 1.35 times, 1.51 times, and 1.78 times in the pieced, stripped, and sliced cucumbers, respectively. This combines with the enhancement in the ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activity, contributing to the antioxidant capacity increasing by 1.14–1.95 times compared with the control. In conclusion, the degree of quality indexes was sliced > pieced > stripped. Therefore, this study provides useful information to illuminate the mechanism of the quality change in fresh-cut cucumbers subjected to different cutting methods and makes suggestions on the appropriate cutting style for the commercial or home use of cucumbers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Postharvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism)

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16 pages, 4789 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Mechanism of Lignin Biosynthesis in Fresh-Cut Cucumber

by Yi Wang, Ning Yuan, Yuge Guan, Chen Chen and Wenzhong Hu

Horticulturae 2023, 9(4), 500; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9040500 - 17 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1299

Abstract

When subjected to a certain degree of mechanical damages, a systematic responsive mechanism of fresh-cut cucumber is activated. Among them, the lignin produced in the secondary metabolism will make the fresh-cut cucumber lignified, which will increase the hardness and whiten the cutting surface of the fresh-cut cucumber, seriously affecting the taste and appearance quality. In order to further understand the mechanism of lignin synthesis, transcriptome analysis was carried out on two cutting types of fruit samples from the slices treatment (P) and shreds treatment (S) stored for 24 h. Compared with the whole fruit (CK), 2281 and 2259 differentially expressed genes (EDGs) were identified in the slices and shreds treatments, respectively; 1442 up-regulated genes and 839 down-regulated genes were expressed as 2281 in the slices treatment; 1475 significantly up-regulated genes and 784 significantly down-regulated genes were expressed as 2259 in the shreds treatment; and 1582 DEGs were commonly detected between the slices treatment and shreds treatment, indicating that these DEGs were related to lignin synthesis. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that compared with the whole fruit, the metabolic pathways of amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, and secondary metabolism were affected by mechanical damages. This study revealed that JA biosynthesis was activated by mechanical damages, and the up-regulation of phenylalanine metabolism and phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan metabolism affected phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, which may promote lignin synthesis. Fifteen DEGs were selected for qRT-PCR validation, and the reliability and accuracy of transcriptome data were confirmed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Postharvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism)

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Review

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15 pages, 16527 KiB

Open AccessReview

Bibliometrics and Visual Analysis of Non-Destructive Testing Technology for Fruit Quality

by Peng Ni, Hao Niu, Yurong Tang, Yabo Zhang, Wenyang Zhang, Yang Liu and Haipeng Lan

Horticulturae 2023, 9(10), 1091; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9101091 - 30 Sep 2023

Viewed by 1402

Abstract

This study examined the development and trends in non-destructive testing technology for fruit quality. The status of the research field and the application hotspots were investigated to provide a reference for future research in this field. Relevant studies on the non-destructive testing of fruit quality published between 1993 and 2022 were identified in the core database Web of Science. The temporal distribution, spatial distribution, literature features, research progress, and leading research hotspots were quantified and visualised using bibliometrics. The findings revealed that there continues to be active research and publications on non-destructive testing technology for fruit quality, with a good development trend. China and the USA are the major contributors to research on non-destructive testing technology for fruit quality. The major research institutions include Zhejiang University and the United States Department of Agriculture. The major papers are published in Postharvest Biology and Technology and Acta Horticulturae, among others. These studies mainly focus on agriculture, food, and gardening, among other topics. The detection indices mainly concern internal quality, such as sugar degree and soluble solids, and apparent quality, such as hardness. The detection technologies mainly include electronic nose (E-nose) technology, machine vision technology, and spectral detection technology. In the future, technological developments in artificial intelligence and deep learning will further promote the maturation and application of non-destructive testing technologies for fruit quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Postharvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism)

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11 pages, 649 KiB

Open AccessReview

Physiology and Application of Gibberellins in Postharvest Horticultural Crops

by Jingyu Zhang, Yuhao Cao, Jia Tang, Xujie He, Ming Li, Chen Li, Xiaolin Ren and Yuduan Ding

Horticulturae 2023, 9(6), 625; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9060625 - 26 May 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3011

Abstract

Gibberellins (GAs) are plant hormones indispensable in regulating the growth and development of fruits. Recent studies have shown that GAs play important roles in delaying horticultural crop ripening and senescence, enhancing the internal and external quality of horticultural crops and resistance to stress and disease. We reviewed the role of GAs in the postharvest physiology of fruits in recent years. GAs are closely related to their ability to retard fruit senescence. GAs could effectively improve fruit storage quality and significantly increase flesh hardness, reduce respiration intensity, inhibit the release of endogenous ethylene, and effectively inhibit fruit softening and ripening. It can also improve the intrinsic and extrinsic quality of fruit storage by improving fruit shape, regulating color, delaying the reduction of soluble solids, promoting sugar accumulation, and delaying vitamin loss. GAs also play a role in postharvest biotic and abiotic stress resistance. The GA treatment effectively reduces the cold damage index, reduces the production and accumulation of superoxide anion(O₂⁻), improves the antioxidant capacity of fruits, and maintains the integrity of cell membranes during low-temperature storage. Moreover, GAs could effectively control some postharvest fruit diseases. In conclusion, GAs play an important role in the physiological regulation of postharvest fruits and have important application prospects in postharvest fruits. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Postharvest Fruit Quality and Physiological Mechanism)

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