Senescence is the terminal stage of plant development. It is a strategic and tactical response to seasonal and unpredictable stresses. As an important part of plant senescence, fruit ripening is normally viewed distinctly as climacteric or non-climacteric. In this chapter we describe protocols for the determination of a number of parameters that have been used in characterizing the ripening behavior of fruits. These include changes in respiratory rate, ethylene, flesh firmness, sugar, acidity, starch, pectin, enzymes, aroma volatiles, and expression of ripening-related genes during fruit ripening and senescence.
Keywords: Climacteric; Ethylene; Non-climacteric; Ripening; Senescence.