The effects of exogenous nitro oxide (NO) on chilling resistance and the metabolism of polyamine, proline, and γ-aminobutyric acid of bamboo shoots were investigated. Bamboo shoots were dipped in 0.07 mM sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and stored at 1 °C for 56 days. During the storage, the development of chilling injury of SNP treated bamboo shoots was inhibited with decreased accumulation of malonaldehyde and electrical leakage. At the end of storage, the chilling injury incidence of treated bamboo shoots decreased by 37.9% while their malonaldehyde content and electrical leakage were 8.8% and 18.6% lower than that of the control, respectively. Interestingly, the endogenous NO, polyamines, γ-aminobutyric acid, and proline contents of treated bamboo shoot also significantly increased. Consistently, the metabolisms of these nitrogenous compounds were stimulated in treated bamboo shoots, according to their higher (20.2%-49.8%) related enzyme activities, including nitric oxide synthase, arginine decarboxylase, ornithine decarboxylase, glutamate decarboxylase, orn-δ-aminotransferase, and Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase. The results indicated that the SNP treatment enhanced chilling tolerance of bamboo shoots, which might associate with the activated metabolism of polyamines, γ-aminobutyric acid, and proline. SNP treatment might be an alternative technology to avoid chill injury during cold storage of bamboo shoots.
Keywords: GABA; bamboo shoot; chilling injury; nitro oxide; polyamine; proline.