Research on Molecular Mechanism of Fruit Softening

Dear Colleagues,

Fruits, which are rich in various nutrients, represent an important component of the modern diet and provide many health benefits to humans. Softening has been well documented in both climacteric and non-climacteric fruits. After softening, their high metabolic activity makes most fruits highly perishable commodities, commonly causing quick deterioration and a short shelf or storage life. Thus, understanding or modifying the biochemistry, physiology, and molecular biology of postharvest organs that are developmentally altered to affect their overall quality is a crucial objective in rendering fruit attractive. This Special Issue aims to expand our understanding of the molecular mechanism of fruit softening.

We welcome the submission of high-quality original research articles, reviews, mini-reviews, opinions, perspectives, and methods on, but not limited to, the following topics:

1. The physiological, molecular, and genetic profiles of agronomic fruits during softening.
2. The pre- and postharvest determination of genetic and physiological alterations during fruit softening.
3. The influence of different environmental factors on fruit softening.
4. Multi-omics (transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, etc.) applications to reveal the regulatory mechanisms of fruit softening.

Dr. Jianzhao Li
Dr. Minjie Qian
Dr. Aidi Zhang
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.

• fruit
• softening
• postharvest
• molecular mechanism