Glycine betaine inhibits postharvest softening and quality decline of winter jujube fruit by regulating energy and antioxidant metabolism

Jingyi Zhang; Chao Wang; Cunkun Chen; Shengli Zhang; Xiaoyang Zhao; Caie Wu; Xiaohong Kou; Zhaohui Xue

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135445

Glycine betaine inhibits postharvest softening and quality decline of winter jujube fruit by regulating energy and antioxidant metabolism

Food Chem. 2023 Jun 1:410:135445. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135445. Epub 2023 Jan 9.

Authors

Jingyi Zhang¹, Chao Wang¹, Cunkun Chen², Shengli Zhang¹, Xiaoyang Zhao¹, Caie Wu³, Xiaohong Kou⁴, Zhaohui Xue⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
² National Engineering Technology Research Center for Preservation of Agricultural Products, Key Laboratory of Storage of Agricultural Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Postharvest Physiology and Storage of Agricultural Products, Tianjin 300384, China.
³ College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
⁴ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China. Electronic address: kouxiaohong@tju.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China. Electronic address: zhhxue@tju.edu.cn.

PMID: 36640652
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135445

Abstract

Winter jujube fruit easily softens after harvest. To investigate the effects of glycine betaine (N,N,N-trimethylglycine; GB) treatment on the quality of postharvest jujubes, fresh winter jujubes (Zizyphus jujuba Mill. cv. Dongzao) were immersed in 20 mmol·L^-1 GB for 20 min. The results showed that GB application can effectively maintain cell wall component content by restraining gene expression and enzyme activities, including PG, CX, PME and β-Glu. Meanwhile, the activities of antioxidant enzymes (APX, CAT, SOD, POD) and the contents of nonenzymatic antioxidants (MDA, H₂O₂, ASA, GSH) were enhanced in treated jujubes, thereby reducing the content of ROS. In addition, energy metabolism enzyme activities (H⁺-ATPase, Ca²⁺-ATPase, SDH and CCO) and gene expression were also significantly increased, thus maintaining higher energy levels (ATP, ADP, AMP and EC). In summary, GB enhances ATP biosynthesis by increasing energy metabolism. It offers essential energy for the antioxidant metabolism, thus retarding the softening of postharvest jujubes.

Keywords: Antioxidant metabolism; Energy metabolism; Glycine betaine; Softening; Winter jujube.

MeSH terms

Adenosine Triphosphate / metabolism
Antioxidants* / pharmacology
Betaine / pharmacology
Fruit / metabolism
Hydrogen Peroxide / metabolism
Ziziphus* / metabolism

Substances

Antioxidants
jujube extract
Betaine
Hydrogen Peroxide
Adenosine Triphosphate