PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY OF ‘ROCHA’ PEAR DURING RIPENING AND LONG-TERM CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE STORAGE ADRIANO ARRIEL SAQUET ORIENTADOR: Professor Doutor Domingos Almeida COORIENTADOR: Doutor Josef Streif TESE ELABORADA PARA OBTENÇÃO DO GRAU DE DOUTOR EM ENGENHARIA AGRONÓMICA 2017 PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY OF ‘ROCHA’ PEAR DURING RIPENING AND LONG-TERM CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE STORAGE TESE APRESENTADA PARA A OBTENÇÃO DO GRAU DE DOUTOR EM ENGENHARIA AGRONÓMICA ADRIANO ARRIEL SAQUET ORIENTADOR: Doutor Domingos Almeida, Professor, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. COORIENTADOR: Doutor Josef Streif, Investigador, Universidade de Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Alemanha. JÚRI Presidente: Doutora Maria Helena Mendes da Costa Ferreira Correia de Oliveira (Professora Associada, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa); Vogais: Doutora Inmaculada Recasens Guinjuan (Professora Catedrática, Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria Agrària, Universitat de Lleida, Espanha); Doutor Ricardo Manuel de Seixas Boavida Ferreira (Professor Catedrático, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa); Doutor Josef Streif (Senior Scientist, University of Hohenheim, Alemanha); Doutor Fernando José Cebola Lidon (Professor Associado com Agregação, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa); Doutora Maria Dulce Carlos Antunes (Professora Auxiliar, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve). 2017 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I extend my sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. Domingos Almeida for his supervising of this research. Thanks for all the advices and considerable patience on planning and reading this thesis. My grateful thanks to Dr. Josef Streif, Competence Center for Fruit Science of Bavendorf, University of Hohenheim, Germany, for helpful suggestions in this research project and reading this thesis. I thank Dr. Daniel Neuwald for the partnership and support in carrying out additional storage trials with ‘Alexander Lucar’ pear at Competence Center for Fruit Science Bavendorf, Ravensburg, Germany. Thanks to the Federal Institute of Science and Education, Brazil, for granting this training period in Portugal. My sincerely thanks to my colleagues Rita Galvão Gonçalves, Carla Alegria, Tiago Daniel Vieira, Pedro Figueiredo and Cristina Couto for friendship and valuable help in laboratory. My thanks to Daniel Duarte and Diana Faria from the laboratory of Food Chemistry for friendship and kind laboratory help. Special thanks to Paula Gonçalves from de Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for helpful support in various laboratory procedures. I thank very much Prof. Dr. Luisa Carvalho, from the Laboratory of Plant Physiology for her kindly assistance in showing the operation of the multi-reader before and during my measurements of adenylates. Thanks to Dr. Mariana Mota from the Laboratory of Plant Physiology for kindly laboratory support. Finally, I thank my mother Antonieta, a great mother and a great person, my father Edi in memoriam, my brother Marcos and his family, and especially my family, wife Solange, son Leonardo and daughter Manuela, for their unconditional friendship, support and nice time spended togheter in Lisbon. “The Earth is the great school of souls, where it educates students of all ages” (Francisco Cândido Xavier) ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... ii Table of contents .................................................................................................................. iii Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................... vi Abstract .............................................................................................................................. viii Resumo ................................................................................................................................. ix Resumo alargado .................................................................................................................. x Scientific contributions directly related to the doctoral thesis ...................................... xiii Chapter 1. General introduction ........................................................................................ 01 1.1. Pear fruit quality ............................................................................................................. 01 1.2. The ‘Rocha’ pear ............................................................................................................ 02 1.3. The main physiological and biochemical changes during ripening of pear ................... 03 1.4. Storage systems for pear ................................................................................................. 03 1.4.1. Cold storage in air ....................................................................................................... 03 1.4.2. Controlled atmosphere storage .................................................................................... 04 1.5. Postharvest treatment with 1-methylcyclopropene ........................................................ 05 1.5.1. General information on 1-methylcyclopropene ........................................................... 05 1.5.2. Effect of 1-methylcyclopropene on pear ripening and storability ............................... 06 1.6. Physiological disorders during storage of ‘Rocha’ pear ................................................. 07 1.6.1. Internal storage disorders............................................................................................. 07 1.6.2. Superficial scald .......................................................................................................... 08 1.7. Macro- and micronutrients related to fruit quality and storage disorders ...................... 09 1.8. Mechanisms of internal storage disorders ...................................................................... 10 Aim and outline of the thesis .............................................................................................. 15 iii Chapter 2. Mapping the gradients of adenylate nucleotides and energy charge within ‘Rocha’ pear fruit .................................................................................................... 17 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 17 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 18 Material and methods ............................................................................................................ 19 Results and discussion ........................................................................................................... 20 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 22 Chapter 3. Ripening physiology and biochemistry of ‘Rocha’ pear as affected by ethylene inhibition ............................................................................................................... 23 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 23 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 24 Material and methods ............................................................................................................ 25 Results ................................................................................................................................... 28 Discussion .............................................................................................................................. 33 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................... 37 Chapter 4. Sensory and instrumental assessments of ripening changes in ‘Rocha’ pear: Effect of temperature and ethylene inhibition ........................................................ 38 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 38 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 39 Material and methods ............................................................................................................ 40 Results ................................................................................................................................... 42 Discussion .............................................................................................................................. 48 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................... 51 iv Chapter 5. Mineral composition of ‘Rocha’ pear fruit related to storage disorders ............................................................................................................................... 53 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 53 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................