Effect of Methyl Jasmonate on Enzymatic Browning and Antioxidant Enzyme System of Eggplant Fruit (Solanum melongena L.)**

Abstract

Eggplant fruit result in significant economic losses, as being non-climacteric is sensitive to chilling injury and short postharvest life. Eggplants were harvested in Gevas district of Van, Turkey. The eggplant fruits were harvested by taking maturity levels into consideration and then placed in foam plates and covered with Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) for 21 days in cold air depots containing 10 and 20 °C temperature and 90-95% relative humidity. The fruits of the same size were divided into 3 different groups. The first group of fruits was immersed in distilled water as a control. The second group of fruits were immersed in 1 μM MeJA solution for 10 minutes. The third group was immersed in 5 μM MeJA solution for 10 minutes. The effect of postharvest Methyl Jasmonate treatment during the storage period on respiratory rate, Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were evaluated. The results obtained from this study suggest that 1 µM Methyl Jasmonate application gives the best results in terms of parameters such as respiratory rate, SOD, PPO, and MDA at 20 °C, while 5 µM Methyl Jasmonate was found to be the most positive one in terms of CAT enzyme activity. As a result, it can be suggested that MeJA treatments were effective on antioxidativ enzymes and respiration rate during the storage period.