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.

Download the abstract

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…

Pure wine vs natural wine

S’il n’existe pas de réglementation officielle, la démarche des vins naturels prône un retour aux pratiques dites ancestrales préconisant notamment un mode d’élaboration des vins utilisant le moins d’intrants possible. Le seul autorisé reste l’anhydride sulfureux (SO2) à des doses quatre à cinq fois moins importantes que pour les vins dits conventionnels. Ce désir de renouer avec

Read More

Cumulative effect of deficit irrigation and salinity on vine responses

Climate change is increasing water needs in most of the wine growing regions while reducing the availability and quality of water resources for irrigation. In this context, the sustainability of Mediterranean viticulture depends on grapevine responses to the combinations of water and salt stress. With this aim, this work studies the effects of deficit irrigation and salinity on the physiology of the Tempranillo cultivar (Vitis vinifera L.) grafted onto a drought and salinity tolerant rootstock (1103 Paulsen).

Read More

Adapting wine production to climate change through the exploration of the diversity of Vitis vinifera cultivars

Major factors involved in wine quality and typicity are soil type, climatic conditions, plant material (rootstock and cultivar), vineyard management practices and winemaking conditions.

Read More

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).

Read More

Defining the mechanisms and impact of winemaking treatments on tannin and polysaccharides in red wine: recent progress in creating diverse styles

Tannin and polysaccharide concentration and composition is important in defining the texture of red wines, but can vary due to factors such as cultivar, region, grape ripeness, viticultural practices and winemaking techniques. However, the concentration and composition of these macromolecules is dependent not only on grape tannin and polysaccharide concentration and composition, but also their extractability and, in the case of polysaccharides, their formation by yeast. Through studies into the influence of grape maturity, winemaking and sensory impacts of red grape polysaccharides, seed and skin tannins, recent research in our laboratory has shown that the processes involved in the extraction of these macromolecules from grapes and their retention in wine are very complex.

Read More