ε-Poly-l-Lysine Enhances Fruit Disease Resistance in Postharvest Longans (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) by Modulating Energy Status and ATPase Activity

Junzheng Sun; Hongbin Chen; Yihui Chen; Mengshi Lin; Yen-Con Hung; Yuji Jiang; Hetong Lin

doi:10.3390/foods11050773

ε-Poly-l-Lysine Enhances Fruit Disease Resistance in Postharvest Longans (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) by Modulating Energy Status and ATPase Activity

Foods. 2022 Mar 7;11(5):773. doi: 10.3390/foods11050773.

Authors

Junzheng Sun^{1

2}, Hongbin Chen^{1

3}, Yihui Chen^{1

2}, Mengshi Lin⁴, Yen-Con Hung⁵, Yuji Jiang¹, Hetong Lin^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Postharvest Technology of Agricultural Products, College of Food Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
² Key Laboratory of Postharvest Biology of Subtropical Special Agricultural Products, Fujian Province University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
³ College of Oceanology and Food Science, Quanzhou Normal University, Quanzhou 362000, China.
⁴ Food Science Program, Division of Food, Nutrition & Exercise Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
⁵ Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia, 1109 Experiment Street, Griffin, GA 30223, USA.

Abstract

ε-poly-l-lysine (ε-PL) holds a strong antibacterial property and is widely used for food preservation. However, the application of ε-PL to enhance fruit disease resistance in postharvest longans (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) has not been explored. The objective of this study was to explore the impact of ε-PL treatment on disease occurrence and energy metabolism of longans infected with Phomopsis longanae Chi (P. longanae). It was found that, in comparison with P. longanae-inoculated longans, ε-PL could decrease the fruit disease index and adenosine monophosphate (AMP) content, increase the amounts of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and energy charge, and enhance the activities of adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) (such as H⁺-, Mg²⁺-, and Ca²⁺-ATPase) in the mitochondria, protoplasm, and vacuole. The results suggest that the higher levels of ATPase activity and energy status played essential roles in disease resistance of postharvest longan fruit. Therefore, the ε-PL treatment can be used as a safe and efficient postharvest method to inhibit the disease occurrence of longan fruit during storage at room temperature.

Keywords: adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase); energy status; fruit disease resistance; longan fruit; ε-poly-l-lysine (ε-PL).

Grants and funding

32072272, 31772035 and 31671914/National Natural Science Foundation of China