Effect of electric field treatment on postharvest quality of green bell pepper

There have been reports of the effects of electric field (EF) treatment on the physiological and nutritional characteristics such as respiration suppression, oxidative stress reduction, and ascorbic acid content of fruits and vegetables.
However, there are few studies on the effects of EF treatment on gene expressions of fruits and vegetables at postharvest stage.
Cell wall softening, which directly affects the decrease in fruit firmness, involves the action of cell wall degrading enzymes such as pectin methyl esterase (PME). In this study, we investigated the effect of EF treatment on cell wall strength of green bell pepper (GBP) fruit at postharvest stage.
GBP fruits were stored in an incubator set at 10°C for up to 12 days with and without alternative current (AC) EF (2 kV m^‑1) environment.
Gene expression of PME1, firmness, and ascorbic acid content were measured before (day 0) and on 4, 8, and 12 days in storage.
The firmness of control sample decreased in 12 days.
However, EF treated samples maintained the firmness even after 12 days in storage, and also observed significantly lower level of PME1 gene expression.
These results suggested that storage under EF conditions has a possibility for delaying the degradation of pectin.

IV Asian Horticultural Congress – AHC2023

Y. Hamaguchi, R. Yoshida, D. Hamanaka

electric field, postharvest quality, softening, cell wall, gene expression

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2024.1404.57