Benzyl-aminopurine (BAP) treatments delay cell wall degradation and softening, improving quality maintenance of refrigerated summer squash

•The effect of cytokinins on summer squash deterioration and wall metabolism was tested.•Benzylaminopurine (BAP) treatments markedly delayed fruit softening during storage.•BAP sprays did not affect hemicellulose turnover, but delayed pectin solubilization.•BAP may be used to complement refrigeration and maintain texture in summer squash.

Round summer squash are harvested before reaching full maturity and even though they are highly perishable, fruit postharvest handling is mostly based on storage at non-chilling temperatures. Finding complementary treatments minimizing deterioration and reducing postharvest losses would be extremely useful. In this work we evaluated the effect of postharvest cytokinin (CK) treatments on refrigerated round soft rind squash. Fruit were harvested at commercial maturity and sprayed with 1 mmol L−1 benzylaminopurine (BAP) or water (control) prior to storage at 5 °C for 0, 13 or 25 days. Quality was assessed upon removal from cold storage as well as after a 2 day shelf-life period at 20 °C. CK-treated fruit showed slower deterioration and dehydration and remained firmer than the control. BAP sprays did not affect color, respiration or sugar-acid balance. The treatments prevented phenolic compound accumulation, and decreased pectin solubilization. By the end of the storage period BAP-treated squash had higher levels (45%) of tightly-bound polyuronides than untreated controls, indicating a substantial delay in cell wall dismantling. CK sprays also reduced neutral sugar solubilization from pectin-rich fractions, but no changes were found in the cross-linking glycans or cellulose. To our knowledge, this is the first work showing that CK can regulate pectin disassembly in developing fruit. Postharvest BAP sprays preventing texture deterioration may be a simple treatment to complement refrigeration of round, soft rind, summer squash.