Vol. 119 (2006): Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society
Handling & Processing

Pretreatment of greenhouse-grown cucumber with aqueous 1-mcp maintains quality during exposure to ethylene

Steven A. Sargent
University of Florida

Published 2006-12-01

Keywords

  • Cucumis sativus,
  • 1-methylcyclopropene,
  • postharvest quality and storage

Abstract

The efflux of solutes from plant tissues is widely used as a measure of membrane permeability in response to various stress conditions. Following harvest, hydroponically grown mini-cucumbers (cv. Manar) were immersed for 1 minute in 100 ppb, 1 ppm or 5 ppm 1-methylcyclopropene (1MCP) solutions, air dried and stored at 15C, 99% relative humidity in a flow-through system with continuous exposure to 13 L L-1 exogenous ethylene or air. Color, firmness and electrolyte leakage were determined after 4 and 8 days. After 8-day storage in ethylene, non-1-MCP treated (control) cucumbers had lower hue angle, were softer and had higher electrolyte leakage compared to those stored in air. There were differences in external color between fruit stored in air or ethylene following pretreatment at 0, 1 and 5 ppm 1-MCP concentrations. Control fruit stored in ethylene was softer than those stored in air. For 100 ppb, 1 ppm, and 5 ppm 1-MCP concentrations, there were no differences in firmness of fruit stored in air and in ethylene. Regardless of 1-MCP concentrations, fruit stored in ethylene had higher electrolyte leakage than air-stored fruit. Fruit without 1-MCP pretreatment appeared visually inferior when exposed to ethylene compared to exposure to air only. The deleterious effects of exogenous ethylene exposure on the postharvest quality of stored cucumbers were reduced by immersion in aqueous 1-MCP preparations.