Effects of Wounding on Respiration and Ethylene Production by Cantaloupe Fruit Tissue

Abstract

Tissue slices were cut from cantaloupe fruits (Cucumis melo var. reticulatus) harvested at various stages of development The fruit wall was separated into rind and flesh on the basis of gross morphology. Differences in behavior between rind and flesh slices were observed, but these may be attributable to surface sterilization of the fruit prior to cutting. Cutting caused an immediate increase in respiration of the flesh slices, compared to that of intact fruits. The rates subsequently declined until the onset of tissue breakdown, when respiration again increased. Ethylene production by tissue slices was at least 10 times that by intact fruits. Only slices from cantaloupe fruits harvested more than 20 days after anthesis showed a climateric pattern of respiration.