antioxidants Article Light-Controlled Fruit Pigmentation and Flavor Volatiles in Tomato and Bell Pepper Hee Ju Yoo 1, Jin-Hyun Kim 2, Kyoung-Sub Park 2,3, Jung Eek Son 4 and Je Min Lee 1,* 1 Department of Horticultural Science, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea;
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[email protected] Received: 20 November 2019; Accepted: 19 December 2019; Published: 23 December 2019 Abstract: Light is a major environmental factor affecting the regulation of secondary metabolites, such as pigments and flavor. The Solanaceae plant family has diverse patterns of fruit metabolisms that serve as suitable models to understand the molecular basis of its regulation across species. To investigate light-dependent regulation for fruit pigmentation and volatile flavors, major fruit pigments, their biosynthetic gene expression, and volatiles were analyzed in covered fruits of tomato and bell pepper. Immature covered fruits were found to be ivory in color and no chlorophyll was detected in both plants. The total carotenoid content was found to be reduced in ripe tomato and bell pepper under cover. Naringenin chalcone decreased more than 7-fold in ripe tomato and total flavonoids decreased about 10-fold in immature and ripe pepper fruit under light deficiency.