Effects of nitric oxide fumigation on phenolic metabolism of postharvest Chinese winter jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill. cv. Dongzao) in relation to fruit quality

doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2008.12.012

LWT - Food Science and Technology

Volume 42, Issue 5, June 2009, Pages 1009-1014

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2008.12.012 Get rights and content

Abstract

The effect of nitric oxide fumigation on phenolic metabolism of harvested Chinese winter jujube in relation to the fruit quality was investigated. The fruits were fumigated for 3 h with NO (0, 10, 20 and 30 μl/l) then stored at 22 °C and RH 95%. Changes in color, phenol and anthocyanin levels in pericarp, activities of the related enzymes, and total soluble solids and vitamin C from mesocarp were measured. The results showed that treatment with 20 μl/l NO significantly slowed the increase in red index, inhibited changes of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) activities, maintained a low total anthocyanin content and a high total phenol content, and delayed the increase of soluble solids and decrease of vitamin C. Treatment with NO solution at less than 1 μmol/l exhibited inhibitory effects on in vitro PPO and PAL activities in a dose-dependent manner.

Introduction

The free radical molecule nitric oxide (NO) initially aroused much attention as an environmental pollutant, but since 1996 when emission of NO from plants was reported by Leshem and Haramaty (1996), it has been demonstrated that NO controls many plant processes, such as growth, ripening and disease resistance (Leshem, 2000). Various reports have also shown that exogenous NO markedly delayed ripening and maturation of higher plants either when applied by direct fumigation in an O₂-free atmosphere (Bowyer, Wills, Badiyan, & Ku, 2003) or from NO releasing chemicals, such as N-tert-butyl-α-phenylnitrone and 3-morpholino sydnonimine (Leshem, Wills, & Ku, 1998). Fumigation with NO has been reported to extend the postharvest life of horticultural products such as strawberries (Wills et al., 2007, Zhu and Zhou, 2007) and peaches (Zhu, Liu, & Zhou, 2006) and delay the surface browning of cut lettuce slices (Wills, Pristijono, & Golding, 2008). NO also inhibits the activity of PPO, POD and PAL, maintains relatively high levels of phenols, total soluble solids and ascorbic acid, and results in a lower pulp breakdown in longan fruit during storage (Duan et al., 2007).

Many fruits, both wild and cultivated, turn red or black at maturity due to accumulation of anthocyanins which also greatly contributes to the antioxidant properties of fruits, such as jujube. Chinese winter jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill. cv. Dongzao) is an important fruit commodity in China in recent years and has a high nutritional rating and good eating characteristics (Lin, Tian, Wan, Xu, & Yao, 2004). The respiration rate and ethylene production of Chinese winter jujube increase but show no peak during storage, indicating that the fruit is non-climacteric (Sheng, Luo, & Lin, 2003). The pericarp tissue structure of jujube fruit may be divided into three parts, exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp. The exocarp comprises the corneous layer and epidermal cells, the mesocarp is the main edible part and the endocarp is the edible part near the core. The degree of red coloration of winter jujube has considerable impact on the purchasing decision by consumers, and fruit with a bright red exocarp is desirable. Increasing redness of jujube pericarp during storage was correlated with fruit softening and browning (Liang, Wang, Zhao, Shi, & Zhao, 1998).

Storage of Chinese winter jujube and the effects of 1-MCP treatment on jujube fruit quality during storage were studied by Sheng et al. (2003) who found that Chinese winter jujube fruit had high fresh consumption characteristics but had difficulties in storage, and 1-MCP did not inhibit the trend of ethylene production and respiration rate, but significantly reduced the total amount of ethylene production and respiration rate. While we (Sun et al., 2007) found NO could mitigate the injury of ethanol on Chinese winter jujube and effectively delay the softening of fruits during storage. However, no research has been reported on the effects of NO on phenolic metabolism of jujube fruit in relation to changes in its pericarp color during storage. In the present work, we fumigated Chinese winter jujube fruit with different concentrations of NO, and determined the relevant parameters of color change during storage.

Section snippets

Plant materials and treatments

Chinese winter jujube (Z. jujuba Mill. cv. Dongzao) was harvested from an orchard of Zhanhua, Shandong, China at a preclimacteric but physiologically mature stage. The fruits were selected for uniformity of size and ground color, and freedom from defects and mechanical damage. The experiments were carried out at room temperature (22 °C). Four treatments of NO (0, 10, 20 and 30 μl/l) were applied with each treatment replicated three times, and 150 fruits in each replicate. The fruits were sealed

Changes in red index

As shown in Table 1, red index of the jujube fruits increased over time during storage, which indicated that the fruit pericarp gradually turned red. After 10 days of storage, the red index of the fruits in 30 μl/l NO-treatment was 1.13 times greater than the control fruits (P = 0.0413). However, at day 8, the red index of the fruits in 10 and 20 μl/l NO-treatments had decreased by 24% (P = 0.0274) and 48% (P = 0.0129) compared with control fruits, respectively. Among all NO-treated fruits, treatment

Discussion

Treatment with 10 and 20 μl/l NO solution inhibited the increase of red color, reduced total anthocyanin content, inhibited PPO and PAL activity, increased total phenol content, and delayed the increase of total soluble solids and the decrease of vitamin C in jujube fruits during storage. The results thus indicate that treatment with 10 and 20 μl/l NO delayed the ripening of jujube fruits during storage. Treatment with 20 μl/l NO was more effective in inhibiting red index development and total

Acknowledgements

This study was financed by National Key Technology R&D Program in the 11th Five year Plan of China (2006BAD22B04). We are grateful to Professor R.B.H. Wills, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Australia, for good advices on writing and revising paper.

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¹: They contributed equally to this work.

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Effects of nitric oxide fumigation on phenolic metabolism of postharvest Chinese winter jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill. cv. Dongzao) in relation to fruit quality

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Plant materials and treatments

Changes in red index

Discussion

Acknowledgements

Journal of Biological Chemistry

Postharvest Biology and Technology

Food Chemistry

Journal of Plant Physiology

Plant Physiology and Biochemistry

Methods in Enzymology

Journal of Biological Chemistry

Postharvest Biology and Technology

Agricultural Sciences in China

Food Chemistry

Nitric Oxide

Free Radical Biology and Medicine

Food Chemistry

LWT – Food Science and Technology

Postharvest Biology and Technology