FOOD SCIENCE

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Effect of LYC-B Gene Silencing on Major Pigments and Volatile Compounds in Purple Tomato Fruits

LÜ Jie, LIANG Yan*, ZHAO Jingjing, ZHANG Yan, CHANG Peipei, QIN Lei, LI Yunzhou   

  1. College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
  • Online:2015-12-15 Published:2015-12-24

Abstract:

In the current study, the expression of lycopene beta-cyclase (LYC-B) gene was inhibited during ripening through
virus-induced silencing (VIGS) technique and the corresponding impact on major pigments and volatile compounds in
purple tomato fruits was analyzed. The results showed that LYC-B gene silencing could increase the content of lycopene in
purple tomato fruits. Tomato volatile compounds detected by headspace solid phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) coupled
with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed that LYC-B gene silencing could increase the content of
6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, which is derived from carotenoids. The release of (E)-2-octenal, hexanol, (E)-2-heptenal, methyl
salicylate and (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol was also increased. In addition, LYC-B gene silencing could increase the contents of lycopene
and some major volatile compounds, thus improving the nutritional and flavor quality of tomato fruits.

Key words: tomato, LYC-B gene silencing, lycopene, volatile compounds

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