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Horticulturae
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Advances in Postharvest Fresh-Keeping Technology and Metabolomics of Horticultural Plants—Second...
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Advances in Postharvest Fresh-Keeping Technology and Metabolomics of Horticultural Plants—Second Edition

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Postharvest Biology, Quality, Safety, and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 4771

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Tao Luo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Interests: multi-omics; metabolome; browning; sulfide metabolism; sulfur fumigation and alternative strategies; postharvest biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Zhenxian Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Interests: multi-omics; preservation of litchi, longan and horticultural crops in south China; packaging; sulfur fumigation; postharvest biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yunfen Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hezhou University, Hezhou 542899, China
Interests: fresh-cut; enzymatic browning; molecular mechanism; chilling injury; multi-omics
Dr. Xiaomeng Guo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hezhou University, Hezhou 542899, China
Interests: postharvest biology of horticultural crops; preservation technology; multi-omics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Following the tremendous success of the first edition of the Special Issue “Advances in Postharvest Fresh-Keeping Technology and Metabolomics of Horticultural Plants” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae/special_issues/KI5SJE71Z7), a second edition is being launched.

Horticultural plants are still alive during and after harvesting, and programmed and complex metabolic processes take place postharvest. The metabolic processes in horticultural crops are spatio-temporally specific, resulting in the formation or even deterioration of quality during postharvest ripening or senescence. Advanced preservation technologies have been widely explored and used to keep horticultural products fresh. However, systematic investigations into their effect on the metabolism of horticultural crops are still limited. The development and wide application of metabolomics technology has provided a powerful means to study the postharvest metabolism and regulation of horticultural crops. For this Special Issue, we welcome the submission of research on innovative postharvest fresh-keeping technology, as well as metabolic analyses of fruits, vegetables, medicinal, aromatic and ornamental plants during postharvest handling, storage and logistics; this scope is not limited to physiological, biochemical and molecular regulation (at the transcription, post-transcription, translation or post-translation level) analyses.

Dr. Tao Luo
Prof. Dr. Zhenxian Wu
Dr. Yunfen Liu
Dr. Xiaomeng Guo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • horticultural crops
  • postharvest quality
  • preservation technology
  • regulation mechanism
  • metabolomics

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 3719 KB  
Article
Integrated Oxidative Stress, Cell Wall Modification, and Transcriptomic Responses Associated with Postharvest Quality Deterioration in ‘Sapphire’ Blueberry
by Turaev Bobur, Muhammad Faisal, Ronghui Li, Yu Si, Meng Zhang, Xiaoxue Kong, Yuxing Guo, Haibo Luo and Lijuan Yu
Horticulturae 2026, 12(5), 586; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12050586 - 9 May 2026
Viewed by 830
Abstract
The transition of blueberry fruits from the ripening stage to the post-harvest senescence stage is rapid. However, the internal physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms underlying this process have not been elucidated. This study analyzed changes during blueberry fruit development and post-harvest storage senescence [...] Read more.
The transition of blueberry fruits from the ripening stage to the post-harvest senescence stage is rapid. However, the internal physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms underlying this process have not been elucidated. This study analyzed changes during blueberry fruit development and post-harvest storage senescence to examine processes associated with quality loss. Post-harvest senescence was associated with a marked metabolic transition, which coincided with a transient ethylene peak at maturity and the accumulation of sugars and anthocyanins. This ripening phase was followed by increased oxidative stress, reflected in higher membrane damage, elevated malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and shifts in conductivity and antioxidant activities, including reduced superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels and increased catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities. The oxidative conditions were associated with higher rotting rates and coincided with fruit softening and increased polygalacturonase (PG) and β-galactosidase (β-Gal) activities. Correlation analysis identified a “ripening stress-activation cluster” (ethylene, sugars, anthocyanin, CAT/POD/PPO, MDA, PG/β-Gal, and RR) and a “textural integrity cluster” (hardness, chewiness, titratable acidity (TA), and ascorbic acid); these clusters represent correlation-based groupings of variables rather than experimentally validated functional modules. Transcriptomic profiling further showed extensive gene expression changes during storage. Functional enrichment analysis supported a shift from developmental metabolism toward senescence-associated pathways, including starch and sucrose metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, and cell wall modification. Overall, the results support a model in which ethylene signaling, oxidative stress, and cell wall disassembly are associated with the transition from ripening to senescence, offering insights for improving blueberry post-harvest quality and extending shelf life. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Postharvest Fresh-Keeping Technology and Metabolomics of Horticultural Plants—Second Edition)
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12 pages, 2521 KB  
Article
Expansin Gene PpEXPA13, Regulated by PpMYC2, Promotes Fruit Softening in Peach (Prunus persica)
by Chunyang Li, Yakun Guo, Hejie Dong, Guoliang Lv, Zhineng Zhang, Haipeng Zhang, Xiaobei Wang, Nan Hou, Jun Cheng, Wei Wang, Lei Wang, Xianbo Zheng, Jiancan Feng, Xiaodong Lian and Bin Tan
Horticulturae 2026, 12(5), 580; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12050580 - 8 May 2026
Viewed by 708
Abstract
Fruit softening, an irreversible ripening process that causes postharvest losses, is mainly attributed to cell wall disassembly, rendering cell-wall-modifying genes critical targets for genetic improvement. However, the molecular mechanism by which expansins loosen the cell wall via the nonenzymatic mechanism, thereby affecting fruit [...] Read more.
Fruit softening, an irreversible ripening process that causes postharvest losses, is mainly attributed to cell wall disassembly, rendering cell-wall-modifying genes critical targets for genetic improvement. However, the molecular mechanism by which expansins loosen the cell wall via the nonenzymatic mechanism, thereby affecting fruit softening, remains largely unknown. In this study, HSM (melting peach, MF) fruits exhibited a rapid decline in firmness, accompanied by more extensive cell wall disassembly and larger intercellular spaces compared with CN14 (non-melting peach, NMF) during the fruit development process. The expression of PpEXPA13, an expansin gene, was significantly higher in HSM than in CN14 during fruit softening. Virus-induced gene silencing in peach delayed firmness loss, while the overexpression of PpEXPA13 in tomato accelerated it. PpEXPA13-OE fruits displayed enlarged intercellular spaces and upregulated expression of multiple cell-wall-modifying genes. Furthermore, a yeast one-hybrid assay identified the transcription factor PpMYC2 as an upstream regulator of PpEXPA13. PpMYC2 specifically binds to the MYC box (CACGTG) in the PpEXPA13 promoter. These findings reveal that PpMYC2 activates PpEXPA13 expression, which might lead to cell wall disassembly and promote peach fruit softening. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Postharvest Fresh-Keeping Technology and Metabolomics of Horticultural Plants—Second Edition)
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14 pages, 2977 KB  
Article
Effects of an Alternating Magnetic Field on the Postharvest Quality of Cynanchum thesioides (Freyn) K. Schum
by Likun Cheng, Yuxue Bai, Jie Fang, Yakun Zhang, Yueying Yun, Yan Ren, Fucheng Guo, Jin Jia and Guoze Wang
Horticulturae 2026, 12(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12010001 - 19 Dec 2025
Viewed by 608
Abstract
Cynanchum thesioides (C. thesioides) is a sand-dwelling edible and medicinal plant whose fruit softens rapidly after harvest, limiting its storage life. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and underlying mechanisms of alternating magnetic field (AMF) treatment as a non-thermal and [...] Read more.
Cynanchum thesioides (C. thesioides) is a sand-dwelling edible and medicinal plant whose fruit softens rapidly after harvest, limiting its storage life. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and underlying mechanisms of alternating magnetic field (AMF) treatment as a non-thermal and eco-friendly preservation method for C. thesioides fruit. Freshly harvested fruits were subjected to AMF at varying field intensities (1.07–1.54 mT) and exposure durations (5–25 min). We monitored the physiological indicators (respiration rate, membrane permeability, and firmness) during storage to determine the optimal conditions and performed transcriptome sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes, with qRT-PCR validation of two key cell wall-degrading genes (β-glucosidase (BG) and polygalacturonase (PG)). The results showed that AMF treatment at 1.28 mT for 15 min best maintained the postharvest quality, significantly reducing respiration and membrane leakage while delaying firmness loss. Transcriptomic analysis identified 2480 differentially expressed genes enriched in hormone signaling and cell wall metabolism pathways, and qRT-PCR confirmed that AMF downregulated BG and PG expression, suggesting suppressed cell wall degradation and delayed softening. In conclusion, AMF treatment effectively prolonged the shelf life of C. thesioides by modulating the expression of cell wall-related genes. These findings provide novel insight into magnetic field-induced fruit preservation and support AMF as a green non-thermal postharvest technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Postharvest Fresh-Keeping Technology and Metabolomics of Horticultural Plants—Second Edition)
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Review

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23 pages, 11275 KB  
Review
The Role and Regulatory Mechanism of Methionine Sulfoxide Reductase (Msr) in the Process of Chilling Injury of Fruits and Vegetables: A Review
by Feilong Yin, Liang Shuai, Mohd Termizi Yusof, Nurul Shazini Ramli, Azizah Misran, Yunfen Liu, Meiying He, Yuanli Liang and Mohd Sabri Pak Dek
Horticulturae 2025, 11(4), 422; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11040422 - 15 Apr 2025
Viewed by 2029
Abstract
The failure to promptly eliminate excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to the oxidation of biological macromolecules such as proteins, which is a key factor in chilling injury (CI) in harvested fruits and vegetables. Methionine sulfoxide reductase (Msr) is a class of redox [...] Read more.
The failure to promptly eliminate excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to the oxidation of biological macromolecules such as proteins, which is a key factor in chilling injury (CI) in harvested fruits and vegetables. Methionine sulfoxide reductase (Msr) is a class of redox proteins that reduce methionine sulfoxide (MetSO) in oxidized proteins back to methionine (Met), thereby restoring protein function. In recent years, the role of Msr in protecting fruits and vegetables from CI has attracted increasing research interest. This review summarizes the classification, distribution, and subcellular localization of Msr in plants and examines its roles and regulatory mechanisms in mitigating CI. The discussion focuses on postharvest CI, ROS dynamics, and Msr-related regulatory pathways. This review provides insights into improving plant quality and enhancing cold resistance through genetic engineering. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Postharvest Fresh-Keeping Technology and Metabolomics of Horticultural Plants—Second Edition)
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