Open AccessEffect of Endogenously Synthesized and Exogenously Applied Ethanol on Tomato Fruit Ripening
Author(s) -
Maureen O. Kelly,
Mikal E. Saltveit
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
plant physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.554
H-Index - 312
eISSN - 1532-2548
pISSN - 0032-0889
DOI - 10.1104/pp.88.1.143
Subject(s) - ripening , ethanol , lycopersicon , chemistry , methanol , alcohol , horticulture , food science , botany , biochemistry , biology , organic chemistry
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. var Castlemart) fruit ripening was inhibited by tissue concentrations of ethanol that were produced by either exposure to exogenous ethanol vapors or synthesis under anaerobic atmospheres. Ethanol was not detected in aerobically ripened tomato fruit. Ripening was not inhibited by exposure to methanol at an equivalent molar concentration to inhibitory concentrations of ethanol, while ripening was slightly more inhibited by n-propanol than by equivalent molar concentrations of ethanol. The mottled appearance of a few ripened ethanol-treated fruit was not observed in n-propanol-treated fruit.