关键词: 番茄果实, 褪黑素, 采前喷施, 采后, 抗病性, 贮藏品质

Abstract: In this study, in order to evaluate the effect of pre-harvest spraying with melatonin (MT) on the resistance to Botrytis cinerea and quality of postharvest fruit, ‘Ailsa Craig’ tomato plants were sprayed with MT at 1, 50, 100 and 150 μmol/L MT before harvest, and then postharvest fruit quality, related enzyme activities and related gene expression levels were determined. The results showed that compared with the control fruit sprayed with distilled water, 100 μmol/L MT pre-treatment significantly reduced disease incidence and lesion area on the fruit inoculated with Botrytis cinerea (P < 0.05), induced increased activities of chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase, polyphenol oxidase and phenylalanine ammonia lyase, increased the expression of the PR1, NPR1, PI II and LoxD genes, associated with disease resistance, and elevated the contents of vitamin C, titratable acid, soluble sugar and soluble proteins. In summary, 100 μmol/L MT pre-treatment had the best effect on enhancing the disease resistance of post-harvest tomato fruit by increasing the related enzyme activities and thus on improving the storage quality.

Key words: tomato fruit, melatonin, pre-harvest spraying, post-harvest, disease resistance, storage quality