Abstract
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) could act as a versatile signaling molecule in delaying fruit ripening and senescence. Ethylene (C2H4) also plays a key role in climacteric fruit ripening, but little attention has been given to its interaction with H2S in modulating fruit ripening and senescence. To study the role of H2S treatment on the fruit quality and nutrient metabolism, tomato fruits at white mature stage were treated with ethylene and ethylene plus H2S. By comparing to C2H4 treatment, we found that additional H2S significantly delayed the color change of tomato fruit, and maintained higher chlorophyll and lower flavonoids during storage. Moreover, H2S could inhibit the activity of protease, maintained higher levels of nutritional-related metabolites, such as anthocyanin, starch, soluble protein, ascorbic acid by comparing to C2H4 treatment. Gene expression analysis showed that additional H2S attenuated the expression of beta-amylase encoding gene BAM3, UDP-glycosyltransferase encoding genes, ethylene-responsive transcription factor ERF003 and DOF22. Furthermore, principal component analysis suggested that starch, titratable acids, and ascorbic acid were important factors for affecting the tomato storage quality, and the correlation analysis further showed that H2S affected pigments metabolism and the transformation of macromolecular to small molecular metabolites. These results showed that additional H2S could maintain the better appearance and nutritional quality than C2H4 treatment alone, and prolong the storage period of post-harvest tomato fruits.
Highlights
Ripening of fleshy fruit is composed of a series of complex and coordinated processes that leading to edible fruit with desirable flavor (Karlova et al, 2014)
A part of C2H4-induced tomatoes is at green– orange (G–O, ∼50% orange skin) period on the 1st and 2nd day, but tomato fruits are almost at G–Y period by C2H4 + hydrogen sulfide (H2S) cotreatment
On days 6 and 7, all C2H4-induced tomato fruits are at the light red (L-R, fully orange or red skin) period, but a part of tomatoes are still at O–R period in C2H4-H2S co-treatment
Summary
Ripening of fleshy fruit is composed of a series of complex and coordinated processes that leading to edible fruit with desirable flavor (Karlova et al, 2014). Fruit excessive ripening will cause senescence and deterioration during storage, which leads to shortened shelf life and reduction in commercial value (Lee et al, 2010). In this process, fruit ripening is accompanied. Ethylene is a gaseous phytohormone that regulates the whole life cycle of plants, including plant growth and development, fruit ripening and organ senescence, plant biotic and abiotic stress, and extensively investigated in a large number of crops (Dubois et al, 2018). Carotenoid accumulation is modulated by the auxin-ethylene balance during tomato fruit ripening; strawberry fruit ripening was regulated by ABA, IAA, and ethylene (Su et al, 2015; Guo et al, 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
