(A) Ethylene biosynthesis and perception mechanism in fruits and vegetables and possible interventions to control the ethylene; (B) CRISPR/Cas 9 gene editing tool to manage ethylene in perishables.

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), an important fruit vegetable exhibits very limited postharvest marketability, particularly due to rapid moisture loss. This study assessed the variation due to chitosan coating on different eggplant cultivars (purple long, purple round and white long). Fruit were coated with chitosan (1%) and stored at 10±2°C. The chitosan coated purple round cultivars (BR‐14 and PR‐5) had minimum weight loss and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) activity than long cultivars (Kashi Taru, IVBL‐22 and Kashi Himani) while, the functional quality (anthocyanins, total phenolics and flavonoids) of long cultivars was higher. Chitosan was effective in minimizing weight loss by about 2‐fold and retained higher flavonoids by about 1.2‐2.3 fold over uncoated fruit in different eggplant cultivars. Chitosan coated round (PR‐5 and BR‐14) and long (Kashi Himani, IVBL‐22 and Kashi Taru) cultivars showed an increase in storability by 8 and 6 days, respectively over uncoated fruit.