Abstract
“Zhongbai” papaya fruit were treated with 15 mmol/L glycine betaine (GB) and then refrigerated at 6°C for 40 days to study the influence of GB on chilling injury (CI) and possible mechanism associated with energy metabolism. The results exhibited that GB treatment remarkably reduced the CI severity as indicated by lower CI index during storage. GB treatment lowered electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde content, which accounted for maintenance of membrane integrity and reduced lipid peroxidation. Moreover, GB treatment improved the energy status as revealed by increased adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level, energy charge, and activities of energy metabolism‐related enzymes including mitochondrial membrane H+‐adenosine triphosphatase (H+‐ATPase) and Ca2+‐adenosine triphosphatase (Ca2+‐ATPase), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), and cytochrome C oxidase (CCO). The results indicate that enhanced chilling tolerance in papaya fruit by GB treatment during cold storage might be ascribed to improved energy status in association with increased activities of energy metabolism‐related enzymes.
Highlights
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) fruit is an important typical fruit with high economic value due to its rich nutritional constituents (Jing et al, 2015)
Chilling injury is a main factor restraining the quality of papaya fruit stored at low temperature (Pan et al, 2017)
glycine betaine (GB) treatment by means of immersion at 15 mmol/L remarkably reduced the severity of chilling injury (CI) in papaya fruit during 40 days of cold storage at 6°C
Summary
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) fruit is an important typical fruit with high economic value due to its rich nutritional constituents (carbohydrates, ascorbic acid, carotenoids, and papain) (Jing et al, 2015). We noted that faster declines in ATP content and energy metabolism‐related enzymes activity occurred in papaya fruit during storage at 6°C when compared to those in cold‐stored fruit at 0°C, and the more severe CI was observed in papaya fruit stored at 6°C (Pan et al, 2017). This finding indicates that there could be an intimate correlation between CI and energy metabolism in papaya fruit (Pan et al, 2017). The aim of this study was to evaluate whether GB could enhance chilling tolerance in papaya fruit via regulation of energy metabolism
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