Open AccessMETHYL JASMONATE IMPROVES QUALITY OF STORED ZUCCHINI SQUASH
Author(s) -
WANG CHIEN Y.,
BUTA J. GEORGE
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of food quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.568
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1745-4557
pISSN - 0146-9428
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-4557.1999.tb00279.x
Subject(s) - cucurbita pepo , squash , methyl jasmonate , chemistry , malic acid , horticulture , fructose , food science , cold storage , botany , biology , citric acid , biochemistry , gene
Freshly harvested zucchini squash (Cucurbita pepo L., cv. Elite) were pressure infiltrated (82. 7 kPa for 3 min) with an aqueous suspension solution of 0.1 mM methyl jasmonate, while control fruit were similarly infiltrated with distilled water. All fruit were then stored at a chilling temperature of 5C. Chilling injury symptoms developed in the control fruit after 4 days of storage. However, the onset of chilling injury was significantly delayed by methyl jasmonate treatment. The methyl jasmonate treatment not only retarded the development of chilling symptoms in zucchini squash, but also maintained higher levels of carbohydrates and organic acids during storage compared with the controls. Fructose and glucose were major carbohydrates, and malic acid was the predominant organic acid in zucchini squash. Methyl jasmonate reduced the losses of these sugars and organic acids, and thus helped maintain better internal quality of zucchini squash during cold storage.