Effects of 1-methylcyclopropene on the physiological response of Yali pears to bruise damage

•1-MCP treatments reduced the quality loss of bruised Yali pears.•1-MCP treatments increased the antioxidant enzymes activities and delayed the accumulation of reactive oxygen species.•1-MCP treatments could reduce the bruise response of pears by decreasing bruise susceptibility and enhancing bruise recovery activity.

Yali pear (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd.) is a fragile fruit and very susceptible to bruise damage. In this study, effects of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on the physiological response of bruised Yali pears were investigated. Pears were treated with 10 ppm 1-MCP before or after bruise damage, respectively, and then stored at 16 °C. Results showed that 1-MCP treatments both before and after delayed the decrease of firmness, total soluble solids (TSS) contents and titratable acid (TA) contents in damage fruit. Bruise volume and L* value were also reduced by 1-MCP treatments. In addition, 1-MCP treated fruit had lower levels of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide radical production rate, associated with increased activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidases (APX), as compared to the control. The protective effects of 1-MCP treatments on bruised fruits may be related to their ability to reduce and scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) by enhancing the antioxidant enzymes activity.

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