Abstract
Fruits are excellent sources of essential vitamins and health-boosting minerals. Recently, regulation of fruit ripening by both internal and external cues for the improvement of fruit quality and shelf life has received considerable attention. Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a kind of natural plant-derived polyphenol, widely used in the drug therapy and food industry due to its distinct physiological functions. However, the role of RA in plant growth and development, especially at the postharvest period of fruits, remains largely unknown. Here, we demonstrated that postharvest RA treatment delayed the ripening in tomato fruits. Exogenous application of RA decreased ripening-associated ethylene production and inhibited the fruit color change from green to red based on the decline in lycopene accumulation. We also found that the degradation of sucrose and malic acid during ripening was significantly suppressed in RA-treated tomato fruits. The results of metabolite profiling showed that RA application promoted the accumulation of multiple amino acids in tomato fruits, such as aspartic acid, serine, tyrosine, and proline. Meanwhile, RA application also strengthened the antioxidant system by increasing both the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the contents of reduced forms of antioxidants. These findings not only unveiled a novel function of RA in fruit ripening, but also indicated an attractive strategy to manage and improve shelf life, flavor, and sensory evolution of tomato fruits.
Highlights
Tomato is regarded as an important horticultural crop worldwide
Tomato fruits were collected at 0 d, 4 d, 8 d, and 12 d after soaking treatments with different Rosmarinic acid (RA) concentrations or H2O as control
RA treatment maintained higher firmness than control during storage from 4 d to 12 d (Figure 1B). These maintained higher firmness than control during storage from 4 d to 12 d (Figure 1B). These results indicated that RA treatment retarded the color change and ripening of tomato results indicated that RA treatment retarded the color change and ripening of tomato fruits
Summary
Tomato is regarded as an important horticultural crop worldwide. As a rich source of carbohydrates, vitamins, dietary fiber, and antioxidants, fleshy tomato fruits provide humans with numerous health benefits [1]. Fruit ripening is a well-orchestrated and important development process in the life cycle of tomatoes. Fruit ripening has been classified into two types, such as the climacteric type and the nonclimacteric type. Tomatoes belong to typical climacteric fruits, showing a characteristic burst in respiration rates and ethylene production at or just before the onset of ripening coinciding with massive transcriptional changes [2]. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of fruit ripening is extremely essential for enhancing our scientific knowledge to improve fruit quality, nutritional values, and shelf life towards reducing fruit waste and economic losses in the tomato industry
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