Preharvest AVG Treatment of ‘Bartlett’ Pear Fruits: Effects on Ripening, Color Change, and Volatiles

Abstract

Abstract Preharvest treatment with 400 ppm aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) delayed the ripening of ‘Bartlett’ pears kept at 20°C. The effect was not uniform, with the delay in ripening ranging from a few to 112 days. Prolonged storage at 20° was accompanied by a relatively steady, low level of respiration, gradual degreening, and partial suppression of the eventual climacteric. The combined effect of AVG treatment and prolonged ‘nonripening’ storage at 20° led to a marked attentuation of the production of 4 readily measurable volatiles including methyl-, ethyl-, and hexylacetate as identified by cochromatography and combined gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Surprisingly, prolonged storage resulted in a much increased production of 2 other volatile fractions when AVG inhibition was reversed by C2H4 treatment. The emanation of all measured volatiles was closely coincident with the climacteric peak. These observations confirm prior reports of disuniform effects of preharvest AVG treatment and reveal that metabolic transitions during prolonged, nonripening storage may have adverse effects on fruit quality.