Factors associated with postharvest ripening heterogeneity of "Hass" avocados (Persea americana Mill)

Indexación: Web of ScienceIntroduction. 'Hass' is the main avocado cultivar commercialized worldwide. The extended flowering period, very low percentage of fruit set and inability to ripen on the tree renders the fruit heterogeneous and unpredictable during postharvest management. The "triggered" and "ready-to-eat" growing markets for 'Hass' avocados are affected by the variable postharvest ripening or ripening heterogeneity which creates severe logistical problems for marketers and inconsistent quality delivery to consumers. Synthesis. The dry matter content, the current avocado harvest index that correlates very well with oil content, has been extensively used to harvest 'Hass' avocados to comply with the minimum standards to guarantee consumer satisfaction. However, previous work and empirical experience demonstrate that dry matter does not correlate on a fruit-to-fruit basis with time to reach edible ripeness. Thus, avocados of very different ages are harvested from individual trees, resulting in heterogeneous postharvest ripening of fruit within a specific batch. Several preharvest factors related to environmental and growing conditions and crop management as well as postharvest technology strategies influence the observed variability of postharvest ripening. Conclusion. Modern approaches based on studying the composition of individual fruits displaying contrasting postharvest ripening behavior, combined with non-destructive phenotyping techniques, seem to offer practical solutions for the fresh supply chain of avocados to sort fruit based on their ripening capacity.http://www.pubhort.org/fruits/2016/5/fruits160045.ht

New insights into the heterogeneous ripening in Hass avocado via LC–MS/MS proteomics

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. Hass avocado postharvest ripening heterogeneity creates several logistics problems at destination markets. Although several approaches mainly based on targeted analysis have been undertaken to broaden our understanding of the potential causes of this postharvest ripening heterogeneity, still the secret is not yet unveiled. In this study biopsies from individual fruit displaying contrasting ripening behavior (slow vs fast) and subjected to different storage conditions (immediately after harvest, 30 d regular air at 5 °C and 30 d at 5 °C and 4 kPa O2 and 6 kPa CO2) were analyzed for targeted fatty acid analysis and cell wall enzyme activity combined with a more integrative approach based on gel free proteomics LC–MS/MS. The high throughput proteomics was capable of discriminating between slow and fast ripening avocado fruit. Proteins that were mainly less abundant in the slow ripening phenotype were annotated to correct protein folding, translation and de novo synthesis and higher abundant proteins were annotated to amino sugar and nucleotide metabolism, detoxification and stress response and proteolysis. Our study opens new insights into the causes of heterogeneous ripening and may provide new markers for avocado ripening at harvest and after prolonged storage.status: publishe