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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Abiotic Stress
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1435066
This article is part of the Research Topic Chilling Tolerance and Regulation of Horticultural Crops: Physiological, Molecular, and Genetic Perspectives View all 12 articles

Mechanism of exogenous methyl jasmonate in regulating the quality of fresh-cut Chinese water chestnuts

Provisionally accepted
Keyan Lu Keyan Lu 1,2Xinping Wu Xinping Wu 1,2Ruimin Yuan Ruimin Yuan 1,2Yang Yi Yang Yi 1,2,3Limei Wang Limei Wang 3Youwei Ai Youwei Ai 2Hongxun Wang Hongxun Wang 3,4Ting Min Ting Min 1,2,4*
  • 1 Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, China
  • 2 School of Food Science and Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, China
  • 3 College of Biology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, China
  • 4 Hubei Key Laboratory for Processing and Transformation of Agricultural Products (Wuhan Polytechnic University), China, Wuhan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Fresh-cut Chinese water chestnuts (CWCs) are susceptible to yellowing and browning during storage due to mechanical damage and the loss of protective outer skin, adversely affecting their marketability and shelf life. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is currently extensively used for food preservation, but it has not been used in Chinese water chestnuts. This study investigated the effect of MeJA treatment on the quality of fresh-cut CWCs. Fresh-cut CWCs immersed in 20 μM MeJA solution for 10 min and stored at 10°C for 5 d effectively delayed the yellowing process, reduced the respiration rate, and minimized the weight and soluble solids loss during storage. In addition, MeJA treatment induced the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), which improved the antioxidant capacity of fresh-cut CWCs and inhibited the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Meanwhile, MeJA treatment inhibited the activities of phenylalanine aminotransferase (PAL), polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD). The results of quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) showed that MeJA downregulated the expression of CwCHS1, CwCHS2, CwCHS3 and CwCHI2 in freshly cut CWCs and inhibited the accumulation of flavonoids, thus delaying the surface discoloration of freshly cut CWCs.

    Keywords: Fresh-cut, Chinese water chestnut, Methyl Jasmonate, Yellowing, quality

    Received: 19 May 2024; Accepted: 30 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lu, Wu, Yuan, Yi, Wang, Ai, Wang and Min. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ting Min, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.