Applying Untargeted Metabolic Profiling to Depict Metabolism During Apple Storage

Modern apple storage practices are employed to maintain a number of quality-related attributes. These attributes are linked to multiple ripening-related metabolic pathways, including pathways associated with fruit texture, sourness, sugar metabolism, and fruit aroma.  An unintended consequence of cold storage can include the development of a variety of chilling-provoked necrotic disorders mitigated by environmental as well as largely unknown genotypic and metabolic factors. The diverse physiological changes precipitating during cold storage highlight the complexity of the metabolic interactions governing overall fruit quality.  The untargeted profiling of metabolites, proteins, and gene expression are becoming common tools used to better understand this complex interplay during ripening and storage of many fruit species, including apple.  In apple, untargeted metabolic profiling has revealed simultaneous changes in multiple pathways, and broadened our understanding of key effectors of fruit quality, including ripening during storage and storage stress.  One potential opportunity to exploit this knowledge is to develop diagnostic tools based on metabolic profiling to detect and assess risk from storage stress.