Polyamines and Regulation of Ripening and Senescence - Postharvest Biology and Technology of Fruits, Vegetables, and Flowers - page 325

Table 15.1 Changes in PA levels during fruit growth and ripening phases

During initial During continued During ripening

growth phase fruit growth phase

Fruit Put Spd Spm Put Spd Spm Put Spd Spm References

Climacteric fruit
Peach cv. Biscoe Full bloom 7 weeks AFB 14 weeks AFB Kushad (1998)

357 535 218 130 110 100 110 110 100

= =

↑ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Muskmelon cv. 20 DAA 35 DAA 52 DAA Lester (2000)

Honey dew 0 250 NA 75 275 NA 250 150 NA

=

↓ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↓

Tomato cv. Indalo 0.01 g of FW 1 g of FW 100 g of FW Morilla et al.

1,800 600 500 130 200 65 75 60 10 (1996)

↑ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Nonclimacteric fruit
Strawberry cv. 0 DAP 10 DAP 25 DAP Ponappa and

Allstar 155 200 125 130 60 50 10 40 5 Miller (1996)

↑ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Pepper 7 DAFS 35 DAFS 100 DAFS Serrano et al.

2,700 610 310 1,050 300 200 > 50 > 50 > 50 (1995)

↑ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Eggplant cv. 9 DAPF 13 DAPF Rodrıguez et al.

Black nite 18 5 NA 3 3 NA NA NA NA (1999)

=

↑ ↑ ↓

Tomato cv. Immature green Mature green Ripe Dibble et al.

Alcobaca 300 35 NA 100 40 NA 350 40 NA (1988)

=

↑ ↓ ↓ ↑ ↑

All PA values are nmol/g fresh weight.
↓=

increases, =

↑= =

not available.
Development stages are indicated as follows: AFB, after full bloom; DAA, days after anthesis; FW, fresh weight;
DAP, days after pollination; DAFS, days after fruit set; DAPF, days after petal fall.

decreases, unchanged, NA

process (Oeller et al., 1991; Picton et al., 1993). Nonclimacteric fruits such as eggplant,
citrus, grapes, and strawberry do not seem to need ethylene to complete the ripening process
(Valero et al., 2002a). A nonclimacteric long-keeping tomato mutant showed an increase in
Put during ripening, while in strawberry and pepper PA levels decreased during ripening. In
climacteric fruits such as tomato (cv. Indalo) and peach, the levels of polyamines decreased
during the course of fruit ripening; however, Put increased during ripening in muskmelon
(Table 15.1). Transgenic tomato expressing yeast SAM decarboxylase under a ripening
specific promoter showed increases in Spd and Spm at the cost of Put and exhibited extended
on planta fruit life (Mehta et al., 2002). This shows a variation in developmental trends of
PA levels across different fruit systems.
Fruits with slow and fast ripening and short and long shelf life have been used to under-
stand the interplay between PAs and ethylene during postharvest storage. In tomato, total
PAs declined during growth of slow (Liberty) and fast (Pik Red and Rutgers) ripening tomato
varieties. While PA decline persisted in Rutgers and Pik Red, varieties with short storage