CaCl2 treatment effectively delays postharvest senescence of passion fruit

Huagen Xu; Pei Qiao; Jiali Pan; Ziyi Qin; Xia Li; Hock Eng Khoo; Xinhong Dong

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135786

CaCl₂ treatment effectively delays postharvest senescence of passion fruit

Food Chem. 2023 Aug 15:417:135786. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135786. Epub 2023 Feb 24.

Authors

Huagen Xu¹, Pei Qiao², Jiali Pan³, Ziyi Qin³, Xia Li¹, Hock Eng Khoo¹, Xinhong Dong⁴

Affiliations

¹ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical and Magneto-chemical Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541006, China; South Asia Branch of National Engineering Research Center of Dairy Health for Maternal and Child Health, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541006, China.
² School of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Nanyang Institute of Technology, Nanyang 473004, China.
³ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical and Magneto-chemical Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541006, China.
⁴ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical and Magneto-chemical Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541006, China; South Asia Branch of National Engineering Research Center of Dairy Health for Maternal and Child Health, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541006, China. Electronic address: dongxhok@126.com.

PMID: 36921365
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135786

Abstract

This study aimed to systematically investigate the changes in peel color, physicochemical characteristics, textural properties, and peel ultrastructure between CaCl₂-treated and water-soaked passion fruit under short-term storage at room temperature (20 °C) for eight days. The fruit peel was further analyzed and compared for the differences in calmodulin (CaM) gene expression between the two groups. The data were analyzed using principal component analysis. The results confirmed that CaCl₂ treatment effectively maintained the appearance and color of passion fruit, inhibited peel browning, and improved fruit quality. The treatment had an effect on maintaining the physiological properties of passion fruit parenchyma, effectively delayed the passion fruit senescence, and kept the structural integrity of the fruit peel. The relative expression of PeCaM gene in the CaCl₂-treated fruit peels was higher than that of the control peels. The Ca²⁺ stimulated the relative expression of the PeCaM gene, which delayed the senescence of passion fruit.

Keywords: Calmodulin; Gene expression; Ionic halide; Microstructure; Passiflora edulis.

MeSH terms

Calcium Chloride
Fruit* / chemistry
Passiflora* / chemistry

Substances

Calcium Chloride