Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Forest Sciences, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
  • 2 Faculty of Integrative Sciences and Technology, Quest International University Perak, Jalan Raja Permaisuri Bainun, 30250 Ipoh, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
  • 3 Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Talca, Casilla 747, Talca, Chile. Electronic address: cfigueroa@utalca.cl
Food Chem, 2016 Jan 1;190:448-53.
PMID: 26212995 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.05.107

Abstract

Fragaria chiloensis fruit has a short postharvest life mainly due to its rapid softening. In order to improve its postharvest life, preharvest applications of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and chitosan were evaluated during postharvest storage at room temperature. The quality and chemical parameters, and protection against decay were evaluated at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h of storage from fruits of two subsequent picks (termed as first harvest and second harvest). In general, fruits treated with MeJA and chitosan maintained higher levels of fruit firmness, anthocyanin, and showed significant delays in decay incidence compared to control fruit. MeJA-treated fruits exhibited a greater lignin content and SSC/TA ratio, and delayed decay incidences. Instead, chitosan-treated fruits presented higher antioxidant capacity and total phenol content. In short, both the elicitors were able to increase the shelf life of fruits as evidenced by the increased levels of lignin and anthocyanin, especially of the second harvest.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.