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Polyphenol metabolism of developing apple skin of a scab resistant and a susceptible apple cultivar

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Abstract

During fruit development, the concentration of main polyphenols (flavonols, flavanols, dihydrochalcones, hydroxycinnamic acids, anthocyanins) and the activities of related enzymes (phenylalanine ammonia lyase, chalcone synthase/chalcone isomerase, flavanone 3-hydroxylase, dihydroflavonol 4-reductase, flavonol synthase, peroxidase) were monitored in apple (Malus domestica Borkh.). The seasonal survey was performed at five different sampling dates and included the healthy peel of the resistant cultivar ‘Florina’ and healthy peel, scab symptomatic spot and the tissue around the infected spot of the susceptible cultivar ‘Golden Delicious’. From all enzymes tested, chalcone synthase/chalcone isomerase had the highest activity in both cultivars, while phenylalanine ammonia lyase had the lowest. The healthy peels of the susceptible and the resistant cultivar did not show differences in the accumulation of the main polyphenol groups present in the apple skin. However, in the resistant cultivar ‘Florina’, an increase of polyphenol enzyme activities could be observed in late stages of fruit development, which seems to be related to the anthocyanin accumulation in ripe fruits. Significant differences in the polyphenol metabolism were observed in the three different tissues of the susceptible cultivar ‘Golden Delicious’. Increased concentrations of hydroxycinnamic acids, dihydrochalcones and flavan-3-ols were found in the scab symptomatic spots and surrounding tissues. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, dihydroflavonol 4-reductase, flavanone 3-hydroxylase and peroxidase showed higher activities in the scab symptomatic spot compared to other analysed tissues, whereas the activities of other enzymes remained unchanged. Highest induction of polyphenol accumulation after scab infection was observed in early developmental stages, whereas enzyme activities were increased in later stages.

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Acknowledgments

This work is part of the programme Horticulture No. P4-0013-0481 and the project No. J4-0890 funded by the Slovenian Research Agency. Ana Slatnar was supported by COST 864 (COST-STSM-864-05258). H. Halbwirth acknowledges her grant from the Austrian FWF (Project V18-B03). This work was performed within the frame of COST 864.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agronomy Department, Biotechnical Faculty, Chair for Fruit, Wine and Vegetable Growing, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Ana Slatnar, Maja Mikulic Petkovsek, Franci Stampar & Robert Veberic

  2. Institute for Chemical Engineering, Technical University of Vienna, Getreidemarkt 9/1665, 1060, Vienna, Austria

    Heidi Halbwirth & Karl Stich

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  1. Ana Slatnar
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  2. Maja Mikulic Petkovsek
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  3. Heidi Halbwirth
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  4. Franci Stampar
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  5. Karl Stich
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  6. Robert Veberic
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Correspondence to Ana Slatnar.

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Communicated by D. Treutter.

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Slatnar, A., Mikulic Petkovsek, M., Halbwirth, H. et al. Polyphenol metabolism of developing apple skin of a scab resistant and a susceptible apple cultivar. Trees 26, 109–119 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0577-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0577-3

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