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POSTHARVEST TREATMENT EFFECTS ON HEALTH PROMOTING PROPERTIES AND FLAVONOID GENES OF GRAPEFRUIT A Dissertation by PRIYANKA REVANSIDDHA CHAUDHARY Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Bhimanagouda S. Patil Committee Members, Leonardo Lombardini Joseph M. Awika Clint Magill G. K. Jayaprakasha Head of Department, Daniel Lineberger May 2017 Major Subject: Horticulture Copyright 2017 Priyanka Revansiddha Chaudhary ABSTRACT Certain naturally occurring compounds present in grapefruit have shown several health promoting properties such as anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial and cardioprotective. However, the levels of these naturally occurring compounds are influenced by several preharvest and postharvest factors. The primary objective of the current research is to determine the effects of different postharvest treatments on naturally occurring compounds present in grapefruit. In the first and second studies, effect of ethylene degreening on ‘Star Ruby’ and ‘Rio Red’ grapefruit natural compounds was investigated. Degreening helped to improve grapefruit color while maintaining the health promoting compounds. Significant influence of ethylene treatment was observed on flavonoids and furocoumarins. The third and fourth study examined the changes in ‘Star Ruby’ and ‘Rio Red’ grapefruit under cold storage and with low temperature conditioning treatment. Conditioning the fruits prior to cold storage reduced the incidence of chilling injury and conditioned fruits had similar or higher levels of health promoting compounds compared to fruits stored under cold storage without conditioning. However, results suggest that for short term storage of few weeks, storing fruits at 11ºC was better for retention of most naturally occurring compounds. The fifth study focused on use of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) to maintain grapefruit quality and nutritional properties. Two MAP films, micro-perforated (modified oxygen, carbon dioxide and humidity levels) and macro-perforated (modified ii humidity only), were investigated for their influence on naturally occurring compounds and fruit quality under a prolonged storage period. MAP treatments did not have significant effect on ascorbic acid, limonoids and fruit quality parameters such as total soluble solids, acidity, fruit taste, decay and disorders. Based on our research, use of MAP films is recommended to maintain fruit quality and health promoting compounds. The sixth and seventh studies focused on variation in health promoting compounds, specifically, flavonoid pathway gene expression and volatile compounds present in ‘Rio Red’ grapefruit during fruit development and maturity. Overall expression of flavonoid pathway genes and related flavonoid content decreased as the fruits developed and matured, with the levels being highest in immature fruits harvested in June. Levels of limonene decreased as the fruits developed from June to April; while, nootkatone levels increased with fruit development and maturity. The eighth study investigated the effect of different ethylene concentrations on flavonoid pathway gene expression and related flavonoids in grapefruit. Significant effect of ethylene concentration was observed on flavonoids and furocoumarins as well as the genes involved in the flavonoid biosynthesis. Overall, significant influence of different postharvest treatments was observed on grapefruit health promoting compounds. We believe that this research will be helpful to the citrus industry to optimize the postharvest treatments in order to maximize their benefits in regards to fruit quality and nutritional value. iii DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this dissertation at the lotus feet of the most merciful Lord Sri Krishna, Srimati Radharani, Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda. To His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, Founder Acharya of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). To my spiritual master, His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaj. And finally to my mother, Parvati Revansiddha Chaudhary for her constant support, encouragement and unconditional love. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Bhimanagouda S. Patil, and members of my graduate committee, Dr. Leonardo Lombardini, Dr. Joseph M. Awika, Dr. Clint Magill, and Dr. G.K. Jayaprakasha, for their encouragement, suggestions and support throughout the course of this research. I have learned a lot under your guidance. Without your assistance and motivation it would not be possible for me to have achieved my PhD goals. I would also like to thank Dr. Haejeen Bang for her supervision and help in conducting the molecular work. I would like thank Dr. Rammohan Uckoo and Dr. Kranthi Chebrolu for their immense support and help throughout my degree. Thanks also goes to my lab mates and colleagues: Dr. Amit Vikram, Dr. Hae Jin Bae, Dr. Jinhee Kim, Akshata, Rita, Monica, Rock, Sabrina, and Dr. Kil Sun Yoo; the department faculty and staff for making my time at Texas A&M University a great experience. I would also like to extend my special thanks to Ms. Connie Sebesta, Ms. Charlotte, and Ms. Jenna Jakubik for taking excellent care of all the administrative formalities as well as arranging social events for students. I would also like to thank Trupti Palkar and Jayant Palkar for their help and support during the last year of my degree. I would like to thank entire TAMU Bhakti Yoga Club and Bhaktivriksha members for their wonderful weekly sessions which helped me to relieve stress and stay motivated. v Special thanks to Atul Chavan and Navina Bhatkar for being there for me all the time. Your friendship has meant a lot to me and got me through the crazy times. I would also like to thank my roommates: Samyukta, Chitra, Pooja, Jaynee, Ajita, Swati, Sheetal, Mukulika, and Aman for their support and love. I am grateful to all my undergraduate professors from College of Horticulture, Pune for their guidance. Special thanks to Dr. Sriram Ambad for his constant support and encouragement. Finally, my deepest gratitude to my mother, father and brother for their unconditional love, encouragement, support, patience and for always believing in me and helping me achieve my dreams. vi CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES Contributors This work was supervised by a dissertation committee consisting of Dr. Bhimanagouda S. Patil [Chair], and Dr. G.K. Jayaprakasha of the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center, Department of Horticultural Sciences. My following committee members witnessed my results during the committee meetings: Dr. Leonardo Lombardini, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Dr. Joseph M. Awika of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, and Dr. Clint Magill of the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA. The fruit quality parameters, sensory analysis and ascorbic acid analysis for Star Ruby degreening, conditioning and modified atmosphere packaging experiments were conducted by Dr. Ron Porat, of the Department of Postharvest Science, ARO, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel. All other work conducted for the dissertation was completed by the student independently under the supervision of the chair of the committee. Funding Sources This work was made possible in part by Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas Israel Exchange and the United States – Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund under Grant Number TB- 8056 – 08 (2008) and State funding 2013- 121277 VFIC-TX State appropriation. vii Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... v CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES ............................................................vii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xv LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... xxi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 2 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 4 Ethylene degreening ....................................................................................................... 4 Chilling injury in citrus .................................................................................................. 6 Temperature conditioning .............................................................................................. 7 Modified atmosphere packaging .................................................................................... 8 Health promoting compounds .......................................................................................