Involvement of branched RG-I pectin with hemicellulose in cell-cell adhesion of tomato during fruit softening

Dongjie Liu; Weiwei Zhou; Yuming Zhong; Xi Xie; Huifan Liu; Hua Huang; Qin Wang; Gengsheng Xiao

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135574

Involvement of branched RG-I pectin with hemicellulose in cell-cell adhesion of tomato during fruit softening

Food Chem. 2023 Jul 1:413:135574. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135574. Epub 2023 Jan 27.

Authors

Dongjie Liu¹, Weiwei Zhou¹, Yuming Zhong², Xi Xie¹, Huifan Liu¹, Hua Huang³, Qin Wang⁴, Gengsheng Xiao⁵

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Lingnan Specialty Food Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, PR China; Key Laboratory of Green Processing and Intelligent Manufacturing of Lingnan Specialty Food of Ministry and Rural Affairs, College of Light Industry and Food, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China.
² College of Resources and Environment, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, PR China.
³ Institute of Fruit Tree Research, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of South Subtropical Fruit Biology and Genetic Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Fruit Tree Research, Guangzhou 510640, PR China. Electronic address: huangw0109@gmail.com.
⁴ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Lingnan Specialty Food Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, PR China; Key Laboratory of Green Processing and Intelligent Manufacturing of Lingnan Specialty Food of Ministry and Rural Affairs, College of Light Industry and Food, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China. Electronic address: wangqin@zhku.edu.cn.
⁵ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Lingnan Specialty Food Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, PR China; Key Laboratory of Green Processing and Intelligent Manufacturing of Lingnan Specialty Food of Ministry and Rural Affairs, College of Light Industry and Food, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China. Electronic address: gshxiao@aliyun.com.

PMID: 36739644
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135574

Abstract

Cell adhesion of four cultivars of tomato fruit, "Micro Tom (MT)", "Heinz 1706 (H1706)", "Money Maker (MM)", "Ailsa Craig (AC)" were evaluated and cell walls were analyzed in order to assess the possible contribution of pectic and hemicellulosic polysaccharides to the softening and altered cell adhesion at two different stages of ripeness. Cell wall material (CWM) and solubilised fractions of green and red ripe fruit were analyzed by chemical, enzymatic techniques. In comparison with the four cultivars of tomato fruits, H1706 and MM are harder than MT and AC at both green and red ripe stage. The ripening-associated solubilisation of rhamnogalacturonan-riched pectic polysaccharides was reduced in H1706 and MM, and the content of side -chain sugars from RG-I reduced by more than 50% in MT and AC. In addition to recognized pectic modifying enzymes, RGase had a good effect on cell separation of H1706 and MM fruit at red ripe stage. The higher RG-I content and branching degree have been associated with increased cell adhesion and reduced cell wall porosity, thus maintained fruit firmness.

Keywords: Cell adhesion; Fruit softening; Hemicellulose; Rhamnogalacturonan-I; Tomato.

MeSH terms

Cell Adhesion
Cell Wall / chemistry
Fruit / metabolism
Pectins* / metabolism
Polysaccharides / analysis
Solanum lycopersicum*

Substances

hemicellulose
Pectins
Polysaccharides