Abscisic acid mediates wound-healing in harvested tomato fruit

• ABA stimulated accumulation of monomer suberin components in wound periderm.
• ABA enhanced activities of PAL and POD.
• ABA expedited wound-healing process in harvested tomato fruit.

The development of wound periderm is vital to prevent water vapor loss and pathogen invasion in wounded fruit. The effect of abscisic acid (ABA) on wound-healing in harvested tomato fruit was evaluated in this study. Wounded tomato fruit were treated with ABA or fluridone (FLD, an inhibitor of ABA biosynthesis), respectively, and allowed to wound-heal at 20 °C in darkness for 4 days. Weight loss of tomato fruit reflected the intuitionistic effects of different treatments during wound-healing. Autofluorescence and histochemical staining demonstrated the development of suberized wound periderm in harvested tomato fruit at 3–4 day after wounding. Alkanoic acids, n-alkanes, unsaturated fatty acids and pentacosane represented the major components in the suberin. ABA-treated fruit showed enhanced autofluorescence, histochemical intensity and suberin deposition along with increased activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and peroxidase (POD). FLD treatment, however, alleviated the features of suberization and enzyme activities during wound-healing. The results suggest that ABA is involved in the stimulation of wound-induced suberization in harvested tomato fruit.