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. 2024 Apr 15;13(8):1105.
doi: 10.3390/plants13081105.

Effect of Elicitor Treatments on Quality Attributes in Blueberry: Implications of Cultivar and Environmental Conditions

Gabriele Cola  1 , Beatrice Cavenago  1 , Claudio Sebastiano Gardana  2 , Anna Spinardi  1
Affiliations

Effect of Elicitor Treatments on Quality Attributes in Blueberry: Implications of Cultivar and Environmental Conditions

Gabriele Cola et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Elicitors of plant defence responses can trigger defence mechanisms that are able to protect plant tissues from biotic or abiotic stresses. Since one defence response involves the activation of secondary metabolites' biosynthesis, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of chitosan and melatonin pre-harvest treatments on the quality and the nutritional parameters of the fruits of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.). Across the two years of experiment, three different cultivars (cv.s. 'Cosmopolitan', 'Hortblue Poppins' and 'Legacy') were treated with 1% chitosan or 100 µM melatonin every two weeks during the ripening season and ripe fruits were progressively harvested and analysed. The treatment with both elicitors had only slight effects on dry matter, soluble solids content, titratable acidity and pH, with a cultivar-dependent response. On the other hand, elicitors significantly affected the levels of phenylpropanoid and antioxidant compounds in all cvs. in both years, with a higher accumulation of total anthocyanins and phenolics and the enhancement of the antioxidant capacity, with positive effects on the nutraceutical quality of fruits. The anthocyanin profile in terms of both absolute concentrations and the relative proportion of single anthocyanins was affected by both harvest year and cv., highlighting the role of the genetic background in the plant response to environmental conditions (with particular reference to summer heat stress) and to elicitor treatments.

Keywords: chitosan; melatonin; northern highbush; phenolic compounds; southern highbush.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Monthly course of agrometeorological indices for 2021 and 2022. GSR = Global Solar Radiation [MJ m−2], GDD7 = accumulation of growing degree days with base temperature of 7 °C [°C], NHH = accumulation of hourly thermal resources [h], HHH = accumulation of hourly thermal excess [h].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of elicitor treatments on dry matter (DM, %), total soluble solids (TSS, %), total titratable acidity (TAC, meq/100 g FW, milliequivalents per 100 grams of fresh weight) and pH in cvs. ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘H. Poppins’ and ‘Legacy’ in two subsequent harvest years (2021 and 2022). Values represent means ± SE (n = 4). Different letters indicate statistical differences (p ≤ 0.05) between treatments for each cultivar in each year.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of elicitor treatments on total anthocyanin content (AT, mg/100 g FW), total polyphenol content (TP, mg/100 g FW) and antioxidant activity (DPPH, IC 50%, µg/100 µL) in cvs. ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘H. Poppins’ and ‘Legacy’ in two subsequent harvest years (2021 and 2022). Values represent means ± SE (n = 4). Different letters indicate statistical differences (p ≤ 0.05) between treatments for each cultivar in each year.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of elicitor treatments on total amounts of individual anthocyanins (clustered into the representative anthocyanidin classes) in cvs. ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘H. Poppins’ and ‘Legacy’ in two subsequent harvest years (2021 and 2022). Values represent means ± SE (n = 4). Different letters indicate statistical differences (p ≤ 0.05) between treatments for each cultivar in each year.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of elicitor treatments on relative proportion of individual anthocyanins (clustered into the representative anthocyanidin classes) and of di-hydroxylated (DI-SUB), tri-hydroxylated (TRI-SUB), methoxylated (METHOX) and acetylated (ACET) forms in cv. ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘H. Poppins’ and ‘Legacy’ in two subsequent harvest years (2021 and 2022). Values represent means ± SE (n = 4). Different letters indicate statistical differences (p ≤ 0.05) between treatments for each cultivar in each year.
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Grants and funding

This research received no external funding. The authors acknowledge the support of the APC central fund of the University of Milan.

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