Effect of melatonin treatments on biochemical quality and postharvest life of nectarines
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Effect of melatonin treatments on biochemical quality and postharvest life of nectarines Erdinç Bal1 Received: 28 May 2020 / Accepted: 31 August 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The study investigated the effects of melatonin on the postharvest quality of nectarine fruit (cv. Fantasia). Fruits were dipped in melatonin concentrations (control, 250, 500 and 1000 µmol l− 1) and stored for 40 days at 0–1 °C and 85–90% relative humidity. Changes in weight loss, respiration rate, fruit firmness, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, chilling injury, ascorbic acid, total flavonoids, total phenolics and total antioxidants were evaluated during 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 day. According to the results, melatonin treatments effectively slowed process of senescence, as indicated by reduced fruit softening, chilling injury and respiration rate. Moreover, this effect is concentration-dependent, with 1000 µmol l− 1 melatonin treatment more effective than other doses during the 40 days of storage. Melatonin treated nectarines exhibited higher total antioxidant activity than controls, which was correlated primarily to the high levels of total phenolics and to lesser loss to ascorbic acid and flavonoids contents. These results demonstrated that melatonin treatment could be a good practice for extending postharvest life of nectarine fruits, maintaining the appearance and nutrient value, and reducing the loss of health-promoting compounds. Keywords Prunus persica var. nectarina · Melatonin · Postharvest quality · Biochemical compound · Chilling injury
Introduction Nectarines are an important temperate fruits grown in Turkey and gain a high demand by consumers. They are also known to be an important source of fibers, nutrients and other bioactive compounds such as vitamin C or polyphenols with high beneficial effects on health [1]. Nectarine is a climacteric fruit which exhibits rapid rise in respiration rate and ethylene production during ripening. Due to high perishability, it has very limited shelf and storage life after harvest [2, 3]. This short postharvest life also reduces its marketing with considerable reduction in the price and profit to the growers [4]. The existing major method for prolonging the postharvest storage life of nectarines is low-temperature, whereas nectarine fruit is prone to some physiological disorders and softening during cold storage [5, 6]. Accordingly, it is still required to find ways to slow down senescence to reduce the post-harvest loss of nectarine fruit [7]. * Erdinç Bal [email protected] 1
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Tekirdag Namık Kemal University, Tekirdag, Turkey
Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is a versatile biological signal that is involved in a number of plant processes, including germination, development, flowering, photosynthesis and defense [8]. Most of the studies performed have dealt with the auxin-like activity of melatonin which, in a similar way to IAA, is able to induce growth
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