Impact of Suppression of Ethylene Action Or Biosynthesis on Flavor Metabolites in Apple (Malus Domestica Borkh) Fruits
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5694 J. Agric. Food Chem. 2004, 52, 5694−5701 Impact of Suppression of Ethylene Action or Biosynthesis on Flavor Metabolites in Apple (Malus domestica Borkh) Fruits BRUNO G. DEFILIPPI,† ABHAYA M. DANDEKAR,‡ AND ADEL A. KADER*,‡ Department of Pomology, University of California, Davis, California 95616, and Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA), La Platina Experimental Station, Casilla 439/3, Santiago, Chile To understand the role of ethylene in regulating the overall flavor of apple fruits, ethylene production or action was reduced using transgenic apple trees suppressed for ACC-synthase or ACC-oxidase enzyme activity or by the addition of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), an ethylene action inhibitor. Flavor components were differentially regulated in response to the suppression of both ethylene biosynthesis and action. Headspace analysis of aroma production, an ethylene-associated event, showed a reduction in ester and alcohol production in the ethylene-suppressed lines and in the apples treated with 1 µLL-1 1-MCP for 20 h at 20 °C. However, no major differences were observed in the concentrations of aldehyde volatiles. Other flavor metabolites that showed an ethylene-dependent pattern were organic acids and sugars. Malic acid degradation was significantly reduced under ethylene-suppressed conditions, showing a recovery after the fruit was exposed to ethylene. Sucrose and fructose concentrations were influenced by suppression or enhancement of ethylene. Total phenolics as well as individual phenolic compounds showed an ethylene-dependent regulation only in response to the suppression of ethylene biosynthesis, but not when ethylene action was inhibited. KEYWORDS: Aroma; fruit flavor complex; phenolic compounds; sugars; Malus domestica; organic acids; transgenic apple fruit INTRODUCTION contribution of sorbitol in apple (2, 6). Sugars are transported Among the many quality parameters defining the desirability from source organs and accumulate in fruit during their of fruits and vegetables, there are important nonvisual charac- development, where they form starch. The hydrolysis of starch teristics such as texture, nutritional value, and flavor, which in the fruit is an important source of sugars in the last stages of influence the final acceptance by the consumer (1). Flavor fruit development and starts before the climacteric peak (6). composition has been defined as a complex attribute of quality, The effect of ethylene on sugar accumulation has been studied in which the mix of sugars, acids, and volatiles plays a primary mainly using TSS as an indicator of sweetness, and it has been role (2). Another interesting group of metabolites are phenolic observed that the suppression of ethylene action or biosynthesis compounds, which are important secondary metabolites con- does not alter TSS accumulation during ripening; therefore, it tributing to overall fruit quality, including flavor, nutritional is considered an ethylene-independent event (7, 8). However, value, and appearance (3). what remains unclear is the behavior of individual sugars in During fruit development there are many changes in flavor response to ethylene regulation. metabolites caused by their synthesis, transport, or degradation. Regarding acidity, malic acid is the most abundant organic In climacteric fruits, ethylene plays an important role as a acid in apples, followed distantly by citric acid (6, 9). Because modulator of ripening. All of these fruit quality related organic acids are substrates of respiration, their levels typically metabolites may be directly regulated by ethylene (ethylene- decrease during ripening. The use of inhibitors of ethylene dependent processes) or by other signals (ethylene-independent biosynthesis and action have shown a reduction in the loss of process) (4). acidity during ripening, which suggests that organic acids In addition to the flavor metabolites mentioned above, sugars metabolism is an ethylene-dependent process (7). and organic acids measured through total soluble solids (TSS) In flavor, phenolic compounds are major substances respon- and titratable acidity (TA), respectively, are most commonly sible of bitterness and astringency, in which tannins, catechins, associated with fruit taste (5). The sugars sucrose, glucose, and and epicatechins have been identified as astringent molecules fructose are responsible for the sweetness, with some minor (10). On the other hand, during enzymatic browning in which there is a development of undesirable colors and flavors, * Corresponding author [telephone (530) 752-0909; fax (530) 752-8502; catechins and chlorogenic acid are the main substrates for the e-mail [email protected]]. † Institute for Agricultural Research and University of California-Davis. reaction (11). In general, there is a reduction in the total phe- ‡ University of California, Davis. nolic composition through apple fruit development; however, 10.1021/jf049504x CCC: $27.50 © 2004 American Chemical Society Published on Web 08/17/2004 Flavor Metabolites in Apple J. Agric. Food Chem., Vol. 52, No. 18, 2004 5695 this behavior during maturation and storage varies according solution was made up to 50 mL with 80% ethanol. Then, an aliquot of to cultural conditions, cultivar (12), environmental factors (1), 10 mL was taken and dried under a nitrogen stream at 50 °C. The and physiological stage at harvest (13). The evidence for the residue was dissolved in 2 mL of 0.2 N H2SO4 with 0.05% EDTA. relationship between ethylene and phenolic composition in fruits The sample was loaded onto an activated Sep-Pak C18 cartridge and is derived from the effect of storage conditions on ethylene the eluate collected. The sample was washed through with a further 4 mL of the solution. The eluate was filtered through a 0.45 µm filter biosynthesis and action, including low temperatures, low oxygen and analyzed by HPLC (Hewlett-Packard model 1050 pump) connected concentration, and high carbon dioxide concentration (3, 13, to a photodiode array detector (HP model 1040M series II) with an 14). In general, results indicate that phenolic metabolism in apple autosampler (HP model 1050), operated by HP ChemStation software is stable under these conditions, and few changes are significant, (Hewlett-Packard, Menlo Park, CA). In this case, a refractive index suggesting that phenolic metabolism and turnover are low during (RI) monitor (model 1750; Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., Hercules, CA) long-term storage. was connected in series with the DAD. Sugars and organic acids were In addition to the four basic flavors (sweet, sour, salty, and separated by a stainless steel ION-300 column (300 mm × 7.8 mm, bitter) that humans can recognize in fruits and vegetables, aroma 10 µm) (Interaction Chromatography, San Jose, CA) using 0.0085 N -1 has an important influence on the final consumer acceptance H2SO4 at a flow rate of 0.4 mL min . Detection was at 210 nm for of the commodity (15). Fruit aroma is determined by a complex organic acids and at 250 nm for sugars using the RI detector. Total Phenolics. Total phenolic compounds were quantified by using mixture of a large number of volatile compounds including the Folin-Ciocalteu spectrophotometric method (22). Data are reported alcohols, aldehydes, carboxylic esters, and ketones (16). Esters as milligrams of p-coumaric acid/100 mL of juice. Because differences are among the most important classes of volatiles in apple fruit in phenolic composition have been determined among fruit tissues (13), flavor, with more than 20 esters that have been detected in apple 5 g samples were taken containing either 20% of peel or no peel. cultivars (17, 18). In apple, the typical flavor develops during Individual Phenolic Compounds. Individual phenolics were identi- ripening with a maximum endogenous ester concentration fied according to the procedure of Gil et al. (23). After extraction of 5 occurring at the climacteric peak (16, 18, 19). In this paper we g of frozen tissue with methanol, juice was then filtered through a 0.45 demonstrate that aroma production is under ethylene regulation µm filter for analysis by HPLC. Separations were carried out using using both biotechnological and chemical approaches for the system described above. A reverse phase C18 Nucleosil column × ) suppressing ethylene biosynthesis or action. (150 4.6 mm, particle size 5 µm), with a guard column of the same material (MetaChem Technologies Inc., Torrance, CA) was used. Acetic acid (2.5%) was added to water and methanol to increase peak MATERIALS AND METHODS resolutions before preparation of the following mobile phases: water Plant Material and Treatments. Transgenic Greensleeves apple (A); 88% water + 12% methanol (B); 20% water + 80% methanol fruits suppressed for ethylene biosynthesis were obtained from different (C); and methanol (D). Elution started with 100% A, which remained lines grown in an experimental orchard in northern California. The lines isocratic until 5 min. A gradient was then used to reach 100% B at 10 used in these experiments were transformed using binary vectors that min, holding it isocratic for an additional 3 min. From 13 to 35 min a express the cDNAs corresponding to ACC-synthase (ACS) and ACC- linear gradient was used to reach 50% B and 50% C and then 100% C oxidase (ACO) enzymes in either a sense or antisense pattern (20). at 40 min. The column was then washed with 100% D at 42 min. The - Fruits of selected Greensleeves apple lines including a nontransformed flow rate was 1 mL min 1, and chromatograms were recorded at 510,