Ripening delay caused by 1-MCP may increase tomato chilling sensitivity

Abstract

The export of New Zealand tomatoes is restricted to Australia and Pacific Island nations and constrained by the cost and shortage of airfreight space. The industry does not have a consistent commercial solution to enable sea freight to the Asian market. A potent inhibitor of ethylene response, 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) has emerged as a tool for controlling ripening and extending the shelf life of many fresh products. Knowledge of 1-MCP effects on cool-stored fresh tomatoes is limited. In the present study, mature-green and breaker tomatoes treated with 1-MCP were stored at 2.5 °C for 5 weeks. At this temperature, 1-MCP treatment enhanced Alternaria decay severity (from latent infections) and resulted in softer fruit than non-treated controls, whereas 1-MCP reduced decay from ripe rots when fruit were ripened at 20 °C. These results suggest that the ripening delay induced by 1-MCP may increase tomato chilling sensitivity during cool storage. While 1-MCP shows promising results in extending postharvest storage life in many crops, including tomatoes, these results indicated that application of 1-MCP before cool storage is not appropriate for assisting commercial sea freight of tomatoes. Nonetheless, it may be possible to apply 1-MCP and then store tomatoes above the temperatures that cause chilling injury in order to extend storage life. © 2014 The Royal Society of New Zealand.