Effect of Exogenous Methyl Jasmonate on Chilling Injury and Quality of Pineapple (Ananas comosus L.) cv. Pattavia

This experiment was carried out to determine the effect of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) on chilling injuries and quality of pulp in pineapple (Ananas comosus L. cv. Pattavia). The effect of exogenous MeJA on quality and storage life of pineapple cv. Pattaviawas was investigated. Pineapples were treated with 0 (control), 10-3, 10-4 and 10-5 M MeJA and then stored at 10 °C, 85% relative humidity. Pineapple treated with MeJA significantly reduced chilling injuries and percentage of fruit weight loss compared to the control treatment. Percentage of weight loss of pineapple non-treated with MeJA was ranged from 13.73-19.64%, while that of treated pineapple ranged from 3.81-11.99%. After storage for 21 days, the browning symptoms associated with chilling injuries were observed in the pulp adjacent to the core of the pineapple fruit. Chilling injuries were found to be associated with electrolyte leakage, chilling injury index and total phenolic content, which had increased during storage. The value of electrolyte leakage, chilling injury index and total phenolic content from pulp tissue treated with MeJA was lower than with non-treated fruits. Total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), total sugars and reducing sugars of treated pineapple were not significantly different from that of the control pineapple.