Exogenous Melatonin Delays Ripening and Maintains Quality of Pineapple During Postharvest Storage
摘要
In this study, the influence of melatonin was evaluated regarding its efficacy in retarding physiological loss in weight and maintaining the nutritional quality of pineapple fruit at room temperature (25 ± 3 °C and 82 ± 5% RH). Pineapple fruits were treated with distilled water (control) and 0.4 mmol L⁻1 melatonin (MT) and stored for 25 days. According to the findings, the use of melatonin at a concentration of 0.4 mmol L⁻1 was the most effective treatment for reducing physiological loss in weight and maintaining fruit quality. Melatonin treatment maintained the contents of total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), ascorbic acid (AA) and total phenolic content (TPC) and reduced the activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD). These results showed that melatonin treatment could be effective at the proper concentration to enhance pineapple postharvest quality. The recommended melatonin concentration for extending pineapple fruit quality and postharvest life was 0.4 mmol L⁻1. These findings suggest that melatonin application could be an effective approach to prolong pineapple fruit quality and postharvest life.