Lipofuscin-Like Substance Involved in Pericarp Browning of PostharvestLitchi Fruit During Storage

摘要

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is a subtropical fruit of high commercial value in international trade. However,litchi fruit after harvest can rapidly lose their bright red skin color and turn brown with increasing storage time at ambienttemperature. Postharvest browning of litchi fruit is mainly attributed to the degradation of anthocyanins and the oxidationof phenolics. In this study, the contents of lipofuscin-like substance in relation to the levels of anthocyanins and (–)-epicatechin, and browning index of litchi fruit during storage were investigated. In a storage period from 72 to 144 h, therelative content of lipofuscin-like substance increased by 51.1% while the contents of (–)-epicatechin and anthocyaninsdecreased by 41.2 and 98.1%, respectively, and the obvious accumulation of lipofuscin-like substance of pericarp tissue oflitchi fruit was related to the reduced contents of anthocyanins and (–)-epicatechin. Furthermore, the increase in the contentof lipofuscin-like substance was significantly related to the increased browning index. It is suggested that lipofuscinlikesubstance could be one of the final products from the browning reaction of litchi fruit during storage.