ARS | Publication request: MANAGEMENT OF CLIMACTERIC FRUIT RIPENING WITH 1-METHYLCYCLOPROPENE, AN INHIBITOR OF ETHYLENE ACTION.

Submitted to: Plant Growth Regulator Society of America Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: April 1, 2003
Publication Date: June 1, 2003
Citation: MATTHEIS, J.P., FAN, X., ARGENTA, L. MANAGEMENT OF CLIMACTERIC FRUIT RIPENING WITH 1-METHYLCYCLOPROPENE, AN INHIBITOR OF ETHYLENE ACTION. PLANT GROWTH REGULATOR SOCIETY OF AMERICA QUARTERLY. 31:80. 2003.

Technical Abstract: Ripening of climacteric fruit is regulated by ethylene. As normal ripening requires the presence of ethylene as well as the capacity in fruit to perceive ethylene, management of ripening can be accomplished by inhibiting fruit ethylene production, ethylene removal from the storage environment, or by inhibiting the capacity in fruit to perceive the presence of ethylene. The discovery by Drs. Ed Sisler and Sylvia Blankenship at North Carolina State University that 1-methycyclopropene (1-MCP) interferes with the ability of plant tissue to bind ethylene provides a potential new tool for postharvest management of climacteric fruits. Research to date indicates the rate of many processes of ripening are significantly reduced following fruit exposure to 1-MCP, and that development of various postharvest disorders is reduced in the absence of ethylene action. Responses to 1-MCP in many climacteric fruit vary with cultivar, maturity at the time of treatment and other postharvest factors.