Relationship between Changes in Endogenous Phytohormones and Respiration during Ripe ning and Senescence Period of Cantaloupes (Cucumis mclo var. reticulates)
Abstract:Respiratory rate and ethylene evolution and the levels of endogenous growth regulating substances were determined before and after harvest during the period of senescence of cantaloupes. It was endogenous ABA which appeared first and accumulated during the maturation period, once it reached a certain threshold level the automatic catalysis of ethylene production was triggered. Like apricot fruits, the ABA-like substances accumulated generously in fruit flesh during maturation and the growth promoting substances disappeared rapidly. This seems internal physiological cause of the cantaloupes corruption.