Photoactivated TiO2 Nanocomposite Delays the Postharvest Ripening Phenomenon through Ethylene Metabolism and Related Physiological Changes in Capsicum Fruit

Arijit Ghosh; Indraneel Saha; Masayuki Fujita; Subhas Chandra Debnath; Alok Kumar Hazra; Malay Kumar Adak; Mirza Hasanuzzaman

doi:10.3390/plants11040513

Photoactivated TiO₂ Nanocomposite Delays the Postharvest Ripening Phenomenon through Ethylene Metabolism and Related Physiological Changes in Capsicum Fruit

Plants (Basel). 2022 Feb 14;11(4):513. doi: 10.3390/plants11040513.

Authors

Arijit Ghosh¹, Indraneel Saha¹, Masayuki Fujita², Subhas Chandra Debnath³, Alok Kumar Hazra⁴, Malay Kumar Adak¹, Mirza Hasanuzzaman⁵

Affiliations

¹ Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology Research Unit, Department of Botany, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia 741235, West Bengal, India.
² Laboratory of Plant Stress Responses, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Miki-cho, Kita-gun, Kagawa 761-0795, Japan.
³ Department of Chemistry, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia 741235, West Bengal, India.
⁴ IRDM Faculty Centre, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational, Research Centre (RKMVERI), Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur, Kolkata 700103, West Bengal, India.
⁵ Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Capsicum is one of the most perishable fruit which undergo rapid loss of commercial value during postharvest storage. In this experiment our aim is to evaluate the effect of photoactivated TiO₂ nano-particle complexed with chitosan or TiO₂-nanocomposite (TiO₂-NC) on extension self-life of Capsicum fruit and its effect on related morphological, physiological and molecular attributes at room temperature (25 °C). Initially, TiO₂-NC coated fruits recorded superior maintenance of total soluble solids accumulation along with retention of firmness, cellular integrity, hydration, color etc. On the extended period of storage, fruit recorded a lower bioaccumulation of TiO₂ in comparison to metallic silver over the control. On the level of gene expression for ethylene biosynthetic and signaling the TiO₂-NC had more regulation, however, discretely to moderate the ripening. Thus, ACC synthase and oxidase recorded a significantly better downregulation as studied from fruit pulp under TiO₂-NC than silver. On the signaling path, the transcripts for CaETR1 and CaETR2 were less abundant in fruit under both the treatment when studied against control for 7 d. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) was also correlated to retard the oxidative lysis of polyamine oxidation by diamine and polyamine oxidase activity. The gene expression for hydrolytic activity as non-specific esterase had corroborated the development of essential oil constituents with few of those recorded in significant abundance. Therefore, TiO₂-NC would be reliable to induce those metabolites modulating ripening behavior in favor of delayed ripening. From gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis profile of all tested essential oil constituents suggesting positive impact of TiO₂-NC on shelf-life extension of Capsicum fruit. Our results indicated the potentiality of TiO₂-NC in postharvest storage those may connect ethylene signaling and ROS metabolism in suppression of specific ripening attributes.

Keywords: ACC synthase/oxidase; GC-MS; elicitors; ethylene; fruit ripening; polyamines.

Abstract

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