terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Melatonin priming retards fungal decay in postharvest table grapes 

Melatonin priming retards fungal decay in postharvest table grapes 

Abstract

Postharvest losses of fruits may reach in some cases 40% in developed countries. This food waste has a significant carbon footprint and makes a major contribution toward greenhouse gas emissions so sustainable postharvest strategies are being investigated.

Melatonin, a well-known mammalian neurohormone, has been investigated as a priming agent to slow down fungal decay progression in postharvest climacteric and some non-climacteric fruits. However, the molecular and metabolic mechanisms responsible for such enhancement of disease tolerance are largely unknown. This work aimed to evaluate the effects of melatonin priming in fungal decay progression in postharvest table grapes (Vitis vinifera L. cv. ‘Red Globe’ and ‘Sugra 48’). Melatonin-treated grapes clearly presented lower levels of fungal decay incidence and symptom severity. DNA sequencing putatively identified three fungal species in postharvest grapes: Penicillium expansum, Penicillium crustosum and Cladosporium cladosporioides. While MDA and total anthocyanin content presented no altered levels due to melatonin treatment, phytoalexins´ profile significantly changed (e.g. trans-resveratrol, trans-piceid). Recent untargeted metabolomics data suggests that phenylpropanoid pathway is being remodelled under melatonin treatment (e.g gallic acid, catechin gallate, specific anthocyanins). RNA extraction and sequencing is being conducted to integrate these metabolic results with molecular data. Altogether, results indicate that melatonin priming leads to an effective response to fungal decay in table grapes by modulating secondary metabolism involved in defense. Ultimately, this work will clarify mechanistic processes regarding this innovative priming agent that may also have a positive impact on nutritional quality of fruits.

DOI:

Publication date: June 14, 2024

Issue: Open GPB 2024

Type: Article

Authors

Maria Paes 1, Florent Weiller1,  Patrícia Pardal1,  Vicent Leclère2, Inês Diniz3, Helena Gaspar1, Aziz Aziz2, Gianmaria Califano1, Ana Margarida Fortes1*

1 BioISI – Biosystems and Integrative Sciences Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Campo Grande 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal
2 University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Induced Resistance and Plant Bioprotection (RIBP), USC INRAE Reims 51100, France
3 Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food (LEAF), TERRA—Associated Laboratory for the Sustainability of Land Use and Ecosystem Services, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal

Contact the author*

Keywords

melatonin priming, postharvest, table grapes, fungal decay, fruit quality

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Open GPB | Open GPB 2024

Citation

Related articles…

Water and nutritional savings shape non-structural carbohydrates in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cuttings

Global changes and sustainability challenge researchers in saving water and nutrients. The response of woody crops, which can be forced at facing more drought events during their life, is particularly important. Vitis vinifera can be an important model for its relevance in countries subjected to climate changes and its breeding, requiring cuttings plantation and strong pruning.

Preplant fumigation only temporarily reduces Northern root-knot nematode

Management of plant-parasitic nematodes is typically focused on preplant fumigation, especially in a vineyard replant scenario. While the data are clear that this practice reduces nematodes immediately after application, which is useful in annually-cropped systems, does it have staying power in perennial cropping systems? The northern root-knot nematode Meloidogyne hapla reduces the overall lifespan and productivity of vineyards, but it does so over a long time period (slow, chronic decline). In two different commercial own-rooted V. vinifera vineyards, both undergoing vineyard replanting, we explored whether preplant fumigation reduced M. hapla densities in soils immediately after application. At one of these locations, we have explored the long-term effect of fumigation by monitoring the site for seven years post fumigation.

Agrivoltaic: chances preparing Riesling towards a better climate resilience

Agrivoltaics (AV), the innovative dual-use of land for agriculture and photovoltaic energy production on the same land, offers a promising solution to the challenges of expanding renewable energy without compromising valuable agricultural land.

The Albariño route in Uruguay: A clonal selection process to produce quality wines

In recent years, Uruguay has embraced the Albariño grape variety (Vitis vinifera L.) as one of the most promising for commercial growth. Originally cultivated in Galicia and northern Portugal, Albariño has risen to prominence in the global wine market, driving strong demand and significantly increasing grape prices [1].

Development of a LC-FTMS method to quantify natural sweeteners in red wines

The quality of a wine is largely related to the balance between its sourness, bitterness and sweetness. Recently, molecules coming from grapes have been showed to notably contribute to sweet taste of dry wines. To study the viticultural and oenological parameters likely to affect their concentration, their quantification appears of high interest and subsequently requires powerful analytical techniques. Therefore, a new method using liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) was developed and validated to quantify epi-DPA-3′-O-β-glucopyranoside acid (epi-DPA-G) and astilbin, sweet molecules identified in wine. Three gradients were tested on five different C18 columns (Hypersil Gold, HSS T3, BEH, Syncronis and Kinetex).