Keeping the rhythm: light/dark cycles during postharvest storage preserve the tissue integrity and nutritional content of leafy plants

BMC Plant Biology

Research Article

Yiran Yang¹  John D Liu¹  Janet Braam¹  Zhengji Sheng¹  Danielle Goodspeed²  Baohua Li³  Daniel J Kliebenstein⁴ 

[1]Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 77005, Houston, TX, USA

[2]Department of BioSciences, Rice University, 77005, Houston, TX, USA

[3]Current Address: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, 77030, Houston, TX, USA

[4]Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, 95616, Davis, CA, USA

[5]Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, 95616, Davis, CA, USA

[6]DynaMo Centre of Excellence, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

关键词: Biological clock;    Chlorophyll;    Circadian clock;    Circadian rhythms;    Vegetable and fruit preservation;    Diurnal;    Glucosinolates;    Nutritional value;    Vegetable and fruit shelf life;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-015-0474-9

 received in 2015-01-08, accepted in 2015-03-16,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe modular body structure of plants enables detached plant organs, such as postharvest fruits and vegetables, to maintain active responsiveness to environmental stimuli, including daily cycles of light and darkness. Twenty-four hour light/darkness cycles entrain plant circadian clock rhythms, which provide advantage to plants. Here, we tested whether green leafy vegetables gain longevity advantage by being stored under light/dark cycles designed to maintain biological rhythms.ResultsLight/dark cycles during postharvest storage improved several aspects of plant tissue performance comparable to that provided by refrigeration. Tissue integrity, green coloration, and chlorophyll content were generally enhanced by cycling of light and darkness compared to constant light or darkness during storage. In addition, the levels of the phytonutrient glucosinolates in kale and cabbage remained at higher levels over time when the leaf tissue was stored under light/dark cycles.ConclusionsMaintenance of the daily cycling of light and dark periods during postharvest storage may slow the decline of plant tissues, such as green leafy vegetables, improving not only appearance but also the health value of the crops through the maintenance of chlorophyll and phytochemical content after harvest.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Liu et al.; licensee BioMed Central. 2015. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.