Integration of proteomics and metabolomics data of early and middle season Hass avocados under heat treatment

Abstract

Ripening heterogeneity of Hass avocados results in inconsistent quality fruit delivered to the triggered and ready to eat markets. This research aimed to understand the effect of a heat shock (HS) prior to controlled atmosphere (CA) storage on the reduction of ripening heterogeneity. HS prior to CA storage reduces more drastically the ripening heterogeneity in middle season fruit. Via correlation network analysis we show the different metabolomics networks between HS and CA. High throughput proteomics revealed 135 differentially expressed proteins unique to middle season fruit triggered by HS. Further integration of metabolomics and proteomics data revealed that HS reduced the glycolytic throughput and induced protein degradation to deliver energy for the alternative ripening pathways. l-isoleucine, l-valine, l-aspartic and ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase involved in protein degradation were positively correlated to HS samples. Our study provides new insights into the effectiveness of HS in synchronizing ripening of Hass avocados.

Keywords: Boric acid (PubChem CID:7628); Ethanolamine (PubChem CID:700); GC-MS metabolomics; Galactaric acid (PubChem CID:3037582); Galactinol (PubChem CID:11727586); Gel-free proteomics; Heterogeneity; Palmitic acid (PubChem CID:985); Persea americana; d-fructose (PubChem CID:5984); d-glucose (PubChem CID:5793); l-alanine (PubChem CID:5950); l-aspartic acid (PubChem CID:5960).