ACC and Ethylene Levels in ‘d’Anjou’ Pears in Air and Controlled-atmosphere Storage
in HortScienceAbstract
‘d’Anjou’ pear fruit (Pyrus communis L.) stored at −1°C for 125 days in 3% O2, or 153 days in 1% O2 storage had internal ethylene levels equal to those of air-stored fruit. Fruit softened faster during subsequent ripening at 20° after 1% or 3% O2 storage than after air storage. Endogenous ACC levels were 20 times higher in fruit stored in 1% or 3% O2 compared to air-stored fruit. Exogenous application of 5 mm ACC stimulated at 2-fold increase in ethylene production from 1% O2-stored fruit and a 4-fold increase in air-stored fruit. When 5 mm ACC, in combination with 0.05 mm cycloheximide (CHI), an inhibitor of protein synthesis, were supplied exogenously to disks cut from pears stored in air or 1% O2, the air-stored fruit produced 100 times more ethylene than 1% O2-stored fruit. Increased internal ethylene levels and accelerated softening during ripening of 1% or 3% O2-stored fruit suggests the need for rapid marketing of this fruit as compared to air-stored fruit. Chemical names used: 1-aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylic acid (ACC), 3-[2(3,5-dimethyl-2-oxocyclohexyl)-2-hydroxyethyl glutarimide (cycloheximide).
Contributor Notes
Received for publication 28 Mar. 85. Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Paper No. 7247. The cost of publishing this paper was defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. Under postal regulations, this paper therefore must be hereby marked advertisement solely to indicate this fact.
Present address: Department of Horticultural Science, Box 7609, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695.
