NMR is a rapid, non-destructive, high-throughput method for the identification and quantification of plant metabolites. In order to explore the impact of ripening off-the-vine on the metabolic composition of tomato fruits, we have employed 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to analyze the metabolic profile of tomato fruits cultivar Micro-Tom ripened on- and off-the-vine. This is not easy, due to the large number of molecules with different physicochemical properties and stabilities and the wide number of factors that affects tomato composition. It requires the identification and quantitation of the different chemical constituents of tomato fruits ripened on- and off-the-vine.
The influence of ripening conditions on the composition of other metabolites and on the activity of enzymes related to the major compounds of tomato fruits is understudied. It has been shown that tomatoes ripened on-the-vine have significantly more lycopene and β-carotene content than those ripened off-the-vine. It is expected that the chemical composition of fruit ripened off-the-vine would be affected due to the import restriction from the mother plant of water and nutrients, especially sugars. This is a common commercial practice in harvesting tomato fruit for human consumption, although there is a general belief that the quality of tomatoes ripened on-the-vine is better than that of fruits ripened off-the-vine. Mature green fruit is also able to ripen off-the-vine, that is, when it is picked and stored on shelf, separated from the plant, and it changes the pigment contents.
#Red shelf unr free#
Subsequently, degradation of cell walls occurs in the postharvest shelf life of red fruit, which shows high levels of free mannose. This transition is visualized when the ripening fruits turn red as lycopene and carotene accumulate. The ripening process makes tomato fruit of cultivated varieties palatable, with taste playing a major role due to changes in the content of several molecules such as sugars, organic acids and amino acids. Tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit ripening starts when the fruit reaches the final size at the mature green stage and is completed when the fruit is red.
Ripening is a distinct process of fleshy fruit that precedes senescence.
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