We investigated the role of nano-silver (NAg) and the bacterial strain Enterobacter cloacae in increasing the vase life of cut carnation flowers ‘Omea’. NAg treatment extended vase life of the flowers by increasing relative fresh weight, antioxidant activities, and expression level of the cysteine proteinase inhibitor gene (DcCPi), and by suppressing bacterial blockage in stem segments, ethylene production and expression of ethylene biosynthesis genes and DcCP1 gene, compared with the control. Out of all the treatments, administration of 25 mg L-1 NAg gave the best results for all the analyzed parameters. Interestingly, application of E. cloacae also extended the vase life of cut flowers by three days in comparison with control flowers, and overall, showed better results than the control for all the analyzed parameters. Taken together, these results demonstrate the positive role of NAg and E. cloacae in increasing the longevity of cut carnation flowers, and indicate that this effect is brought about through multiple modes of action.

This study aimed to elucidate whether 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment delays the fruit softening mechanism associated with the fruit quality of the newly released apple cultivars “Summer King” and “Green Ball” during cold storage. For both cultivars, the fruit treated with 1-MCP exhibited lower internal ethylene concentration, higher firmness, and higher titratable acidity relative to the control fruit, in association with less fruit softening. In addition, the treated fruit significantly delayed fresh weight loss and reduction of soluble solids content, especially in “Green Ball.” Moreover, slower degradation of cell wall components (water-soluble pectin, sodium carbonate-soluble pectin, hemicellulose, and cellulose) was also observed in the treated fruit in comparison to the control fruit. Similarly, the enzymatic activities (of polygalacturonase, pectin methylesterase, cellulase, β-galactosidase, and α-L-arabinofuranosidase) that cause cell wall degradation were relatively lower in the treated fruit than in the control fruit for both cultivars, which was further proved by transcriptional analysis of the genes encoding the enzymes. Overall, the results suggested that the usage of 1-MCP is useful to delay fruit softening of the two cultivars during cold storage by delaying the degradation of cell wall components and enzymatic activities of cell wall hydrolysis.

The effect of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment on improving the storability of four apple cultivars (‘Hwangok’, ‘Picnic’, ‘Gamhong’, and ‘Fuji’) was investigated by analyzing the physiological and biochemical factors associated with their postharvest quality attributes. The flesh firmness, titratable acidity, and soluble solids content of the cultivars were higher in treated fruits than untreated fruits, while the opposite results were observed for ethylene production. In the treated fruits, the traits affected by 1-MCP varied depending on the cultivars used. Higher firmness and lower ethylene production were observed in the ‘Hwangok’ and ‘Picnic’ than ‘Gamhong’ and ‘Fuji’ cultivars. However, 1-MCP only affected weight loss in the ‘Gamhong’ cultivar, while the sugar content was affected in all of the cultivars except ‘Hwangok’. When analyzing cell wall hydrolase activities, 1-MCP differently affected the activities (β-galactosidase, α-galactosidase, β-glucosidase, α-mannosidase, β-xylosidase, and β-arabinosidase), with greater effects in the ‘Fuji’ and ‘Picnic’ cultivars and moderate effects in the ‘Gamhong’ and ‘Hwangok’ cultivars. In this study, the suppression of ethylene production by 1-MCP was positively associated with a transcriptional decrease in the ethylene biosynthesis genes MdACS1 and MdACO1. Overall, this study suggests that 1-MCP distinctly enhanced the storability of all apple cultivars, with a greater effect on ‘Hwangok’.