Role of internal atmosphere on fruit ripening and storability—a review (original) (raw)

Internal atmosphere of fruits: Role and significance in ripening and storability

Postharvest Ripening Physiology of Crops. Series: Innovation in Postharvest Technology. Sunil Pareek (Ed.), 2016

Ripening, storability, quality attributes, and postharvest losses in fruits are interlinked with one another. The postharvest life of a fruit is primarily determined by various physiological processes and associated metabolic changes occurring in the fruit. The role of the external atmosphere in reg¬ulating the above processes and changes is relatively better understood. However, little is known about the overall internal atmosphere of the fruit and how it influences different aspects of ripening and storability. This chapter looks into this emerging area: the basic and applied importance of the internal atmosphere to postharvest physiology and food science and technology. There are various gases and volatiles that make the internal atmosphere of fruits. Their production and diffusion across the fruit tissues are governed by many factors. Differences in morphological, anatomical, and microstructural features of fruits are now assuming greater impor¬tance, as they are involved in determining the internal environment of fruits. As a consequence, there exists variability in the internal atmosphere of fruits, which is evident not only at the level of different species, but also within species. Differences in ripening behavior of different fruits under plant-attached and -detached conditions are also expected in view of the above. The involvement of some of gases (ethylene, oxygen, and carbon dioxide) and volatiles (ethanol, acetaldehyde, water vapors and water sta¬tus, salicylic acid and methyl salicylate, jasmonic acid and jasmonates, and nitric oxide) in the regulation of ripening-related changes, including flavor and aroma, is described and discussed at the individual as well as at the interactive level (especially with ethylene). Some examples are presented wherein endogenous and exogenous volatiles exhibit a positive effect on the fruit’s storability, quality, and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Lastly, a few researchable issues are suggested. The outcome from this area can supplement the existing storage technologies, and this will be highly desirable in achieving a more effective and holistic way of the postharvest management of perishable commodities.

Characterising Ripening Behaviour of Coated Pears In Relation to Fruit Internal Atmosphere

Postharvest Biology and Technology, 2001

Pear (Pyrus communis L.) cultivars 'Bartlett', 'Beurre Bosc', 'Doyenne du Comice', and 'Packham's Triumph' were treated at harvest or after cold storage with concentrations of 0, 5, 10, 20, 40, and 100% (v/v) of a commercial carnauba-based wax emulsion. Fruit were assessed for ...

Mechanisms of Fruit Ripening: Retrospect and Prospects

IV International Conference on Managing Quality in Chains - The Integrated View on Fruits and Vegetables Quality, 2006

This paper aims at giving an overview of the progress made during the last decades on the mechanisms of fruit ripening and to present the most recent trends and prospects for the future. Important steps forward will be presented (respiratory climacteric, ethylene biosynthesis and action, isolation of genes involved in the ripening process, biotechnological control of fruit ripening....) by showing how the judicious exploitation of the data published previously, the strategies, methodologies and plant material adopted have been crucial for the advancement of knowledge. Opportunities of co-operation between geneticists and post-harvest physiologists as well as new possibilities offered by genomics, proteomics and metabolomics for the understanding of the fruit ripening process and the development of sensory quality will be developed.