Ethylene response of tomato fruits to the minimum dropping

Physical stresses such as shock and vibration deteriorate the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables not only by direct physical damage but also through the endogenous biological activities of the produce. Ethylene seems to be the most important factor of the stress response in the produce. In this paper we study the effects of slight dropping (1, 3, 10 times) on the ethylene and CO2 production of the whole tomato fruits and accumulation of the ACC synthase (ACS) mRNA in the tissue. The mature green tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) fruits which were screened by ethylene production rate (less than 0.2 μlkg??⁻¹h??⁻¹) were used to avoid a contamination of climacteric phase fruit.