The fruits of peach cultivar Yuhua 3 were used as materials to investigate the changes of active oxygen and related enzymes in mitochondria respiratory metabolism during ripening of peach fruit, involving their influence on the proceeding of peach fruit senescence. The results showed that the large decrease in firmness occurred between maturity II and IV. The decrease in firmness coincided with an increase in respiratory intensity. Obvious peaks of respiratory intensity lagging to the rapid change of fruit firmness could be shown during peach ripening. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) had a cumulative process and positively correlated with respiratory intensity. During peach ripening, the content of Ca^2+ increased, the activities of succinic dehydrogenase (SDH), cytochrome C oxidase (CCO), H+-ATPase, and Ca^2+-ATPase decreased varying in different degree at the later step of ripening. These suggested a close relationship existed between ROS metabolism and mitochondrial respiration, namely, both ROS metabolism and mitochondrial respiration probably played important roles in ripening and senescing of peach fruit.
KAN Juan,WANG Hong-mei,JIN Chang-hai and XIE Hai-yan College of Food Science and Engineering,Yangzhou University,Yangzhou 225127,P.R.China