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Post-harvest quality risks by stress/ethylene: management to mitigate

Protoplasma volume 252, pages 21–32 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Fresh produce, in actual fact, is exposed to multiple stresses through entire post-harvest phase such as handling, storage and distribution. The biotic stresses are associated with various post-harvest diseases leading to massive produce loss. Abiotic stresses such as drought, heat and chilling cause cell weakening, membrane leakage, flavour loss, surface pitting, internal browning, textural changes, softening and mealiness of post-harvest produce. A burst in ‘stress ethylene’ formation makes post-harvest produce to be at high risk for over-ripening, decay, deterioration, pathogen attack and physiological disorders. The mutation study of genes and receptors involved in ethylene signal transduction shows reduced sensitivity to bind ethylene resulting in delayed ripening and longer shelf life of produce. This review is aimed to highlight the various detrimental effects of stress/ethylene on quality of post-harvest produce, primarily fruits, with special emphasize to its subsequent practical management involving the ‘omics’ tools. The outcome of the literature appraised herein will help us to understand the physiological and molecular bases of stress/ethylene which sustain fruit quality at post-harvest phase.

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Acknowledgments

MWA is thankful to Department of Science and Technology (DST) for funding under DST fast track scheme of young scientist. Work on signal transduction and plant stress tolerance in NT’s laboratory is partially supported by Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Plant Molecular Biology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India

    Mohammad W. Ansari & Narendra Tuteja

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  1. Mohammad W. Ansari
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  2. Narendra Tuteja
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Correspondence to Narendra Tuteja.

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Ansari, M.W., Tuteja, N. Post-harvest quality risks by stress/ethylene: management to mitigate. Protoplasma 252, 21–32 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-014-0678-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-014-0678-0

Keywords

  • Ethylene formation
  • Post-harvest produce
  • Management
  • Stress