Melatonin triggers metabolic and gene expression changes leading to improved quality traits of two sweet cherry cultivars during cold storage

•Postharvest fruit quality was improved by melatonin in two sweet cherry cultivars.•Melatonin reduces weight loss, and up-regulates aquaporin and cuticle-related genes.•Melatonin treatment increases anthocyanin content, which correlates with changes in skin color (Chroma).•Melatonin decreases MDA le...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Food chemistry Vol. 319; p. 126360
Main Authors:	Miranda, Simón, Vilches, Paulina, Suazo, Miriam, Pavez, Leonardo, García, Katherine, Méndez, Marco A., González, Mauricio, Meisel, Lee A., Defilippi, Bruno G., del Pozo, Talía
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England Elsevier Ltd 30-07-2020
Subjects:	Cold storage Fruit quality Melatonin Sweet cherry Sweet cherry Melatonin Malondialdehyde (PubChem CID: 10964) Melatonin (PubChem CID: 896) Cyanidin-3-glucoside (PubChem CID: 197081) Cold storage Fruit quality
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Summary:	•Postharvest fruit quality was improved by melatonin in two sweet cherry cultivars.•Melatonin reduces weight loss, and up-regulates aquaporin and cuticle-related genes.•Melatonin treatment increases anthocyanin content, which correlates with changes in skin color (Chroma).•Melatonin decreases MDA levels, activating gene expression of antioxidant systems. Sweet cherry is a valuable non-climacteric fruit with elevated phytonutrients, whose fruit quality attributes are prone to rapid deterioration after harvest, especially peel damage and water loss of stem. Here the metabolic and transcriptional response of exogenous melatonin was assessed in two commercial cultivars of sweet cherry (Santina and Royal Rainier) during cold storage. Gene expression profiling revealed that cuticle composition and water movement may underlie the effect of melatonin in delaying weight loss. An effect of melatonin on total soluble solids and lower respiration rate was observed in both cultivars. Melatonin induces overexpression of genes related to anthocyanin biosynthesis, which correlates with increased anthocyanin levels and changes in skin color (Chroma). Our results indicate that along with modulating antioxidant metabolism, melatonin improves fruit quality traits by triggering a range of metabolic and gene expression changes, which ultimately contribute to extend sweet cherry postharvest storability.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0308-8146 1873-7072
DOI:	10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.126360