Postharvest Quality and Physiology of Fruits

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2024 | Viewed by 2996

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria, Salto Grande. Camino a La Represa S/n, Salto, Uruguay
Interests: postharvest physiology of citrus fruit; reducing food losses; innovation in traditional products (sweet potato, strawberry, tomato) through breeding by quality

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Universidad de la República, Facultad de Agronomía. Avda. Gral. Eugenio Garzón núm. 780, Montevideo C. P. 12900, Uruguay
Interests: postharvest physiology of fruit and vegetables; postharvest technologies to preserve overall quality; functional and nutritional quality; native resources valorization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Maintaining postharvest quality of fruit and vegetables for longer periods could contribute to reduce food loss and insecurity together with assuring a better nutrition worldwide. This special issue would be focused on recent advances and novel knowledge regarding fruits and vegetables postharvest physiology and quality changes during storage. New technologies for improvement or maintenance of quality and nutritional composition during postharvest life are welcome. Preharvest managements with the final aim of extending postharvest life, improving or maintaining external appearance/freshness and product nutritional quality will be included. Understanding of biochemical processes and metabolites behind physiological disorders or organ-pathogen interactions during postharvest process are also welcome. 

Dr. Lado Joanna
Dr. Ana Cecilia Silveira
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. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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

  • fruit and vegetable physiology
  • physiological disorders
  • nutritional quality
  • shelf life
  • postharvest
  • antioxidants
  • postharvest pathogens

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 4992 KiB  
Article
Quality Characteristics, Sensory Profiles and Ethylene Production of Stored ‘Abate Fetel’ Pears Sorted at Harvest by Time-Resolved Reflectance Spectroscopy
by Maristella Vanoli, Maurizio Grassi, Marina Buccheri, Giovanna Cortellino, Fabio Lovati, Rosita Caramanico, Pietro Levoni, Alberto Dalla Mora, Lorenzo Spinelli and Alessandro Torricelli
Plants 2023, 12(23), 4013; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12234013 - 29 Nov 2023
Viewed by 643
Abstract
Time-resolved reflectance spectroscopy (TRS), a nondestructive technique, can help the industry to provide high-quality fruit to encourage pear consumption. The absorption coefficient measured by TRS at 670 nm (μa670) represents a maturity index for pear fruit, with less mature pears [...] Read more.
Time-resolved reflectance spectroscopy (TRS), a nondestructive technique, can help the industry to provide high-quality fruit to encourage pear consumption. The absorption coefficient measured by TRS at 670 nm (μa670) represents a maturity index for pear fruit, with less mature pears high μa670 and more mature low μa670. The aim of this work was to study the quality characteristics, the sensory profiles and the ethylene production of ‘Abate Fetel’ pears sorted at harvest in different TRS maturity classes and stored in different atmospheres. At harvest, 540 pears were measured by TRS for μa670, ranked by μa670 in three maturity classes (less-LeM, medium-MeM and more-MoM mature) and randomized in nine samples according to 1-MCP treatment (treated, control), storage time (4–6 months) and atmosphere (air-NA; CA: 8–12 kPa O2, 1 kPa CO2). Fruits were examined at harvest and after 7 days of poststorage shelf life for skin color, firmness, soluble solids, acidity and ethylene production and were submitted to sensory analysis. At harvest and after storage, MoM pears were less green and showed a higher SSC content than LeM ones. After storage, MoM pears produced less ethylene and were perceived to be firmer (especially in 1-MCP-treated pears), more astringent and less juicy (when stored for 6 months) than LeM ones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Postharvest Quality and Physiology of Fruits)
Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 3000 KiB  
Article
The Potential of Essential Oils from Active Packaging to Reduce Ethylene Biosynthesis in Plant Products. Part 2: Fruits (Blueberries and Blackberries)
by Antonio López-Gómez, Alejandra Navarro-Martínez, Alberto Garre, Asunción Iguaz and Ginés Benito Martínez-Hernández
Plants 2023, 12(19), 3418; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12193418 - 28 Sep 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 846
Abstract
Plant essential oils (EOs) have an important ability to inhibit ethylene biosynthesis. Nevertheless, the effects of EOs on the key components of ethylene biosynthesis (l-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic (ACC) oxidase activity, ACC synthase activity, and ACC content) have not yet been thoroughly studied. Accordingly, this study [...] Read more.
Plant essential oils (EOs) have an important ability to inhibit ethylene biosynthesis. Nevertheless, the effects of EOs on the key components of ethylene biosynthesis (l-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic (ACC) oxidase activity, ACC synthase activity, and ACC content) have not yet been thoroughly studied. Accordingly, this study focused on the effects of emitted EOs from active packaging (EO doses from 100 to 1000 mg m−2) on the key components of ethylene biosynthesis of blueberries and blackberries under several storage temperatures. Anise EO and lemon EO active packaging induced the greatest inhibitory effects (60–76%) on the ethylene production of blueberries and blackberries, respectively, even at high storage temperatures (22 °C). In terms of EO doses, active packaging with 1000 mg m−2 of anise EO or lemon EO led to the highest reduction of ethylene production, respectively. At 22 °C, the investigated EO active packing reduced the activities of ACC synthase and ACC oxidase up to 50%. In order to minimise ethylene biosynthesis in blueberries and blackberries when they are stored even under improper temperature scenarios at high temperatures, this EO active packaging is a natural and efficient technological solution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Postharvest Quality and Physiology of Fruits)
Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 4356 KiB  
Article
The Potential of Essential Oils from Active Packaging to Reduce Ethylene Biosynthesis in Plant Products. Part 1: Vegetables (Broccoli and Tomato)
by Antonio López-Gómez, Alejandra Navarro-Martínez, Alberto Garre, Francisco Artés-Hernández, Pedro Villalba and Ginés Benito Martínez-Hernández
Plants 2023, 12(19), 3404; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12193404 - 27 Sep 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 918
Abstract
Essential oils (EOs) extracted from plants have a high potential to reduce ethylene biosynthesis, although their effects have not been deeply studied yet on the key components of the ethylene biosynthesis pathway: l-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic (ACC) oxidase activity, ACC synthase activity, and ACC content. Hence, [...] Read more.
Essential oils (EOs) extracted from plants have a high potential to reduce ethylene biosynthesis, although their effects have not been deeply studied yet on the key components of the ethylene biosynthesis pathway: l-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic (ACC) oxidase activity, ACC synthase activity, and ACC content. Hence, the present study aimed to elucidate the effects of released EOs from active packaging (with different EO doses ranging from 100 to 1000 mg m−2) on the ethylene biosynthesis key components of broccoli and tomato under different storage temperature scenarios. The largest ethylene inhibitory effects on broccoli and tomatoes were demonstrated by grapefruit EO and thyme essential EO (up to 63%), respectively, which were more pronounced at higher temperatures. Regarding EO doses, active packaging with a thyme EO dose of 1000 mg m−2 resulted in the strongest reduction (33–38%) of ethylene production in tomatoes. For broccoli, identical results were shown with a lower grapefruit EO dose of 500 mg m−2. The studied EO-active packaging decreased ACC synthase and ACC oxidase activities by 40–50% at 22 °C. Therefore, this EO-active packaging is a natural and effective technology to reduce ethylene biosynthesis in broccoli and tomatoes when they are stored, even in unsuitable scenarios at high temperatures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Postharvest Quality and Physiology of Fruits)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop