Ethylene Treatments Resulted in Accumulation of Anthocyanins in Fortress Russet Cultivar

Plants may synthesize secondary metabolites when they are exposed to pre- and postharvest abiotic stresses. These changes can lead to numerous quality problems in fruits and vegetables. Anthocyanin content of potato tubers is an important trait that is attracting increasing attention in some specialty cultivars, but in some russets it is considered a negative quality trait. Stress may have an impact on phytochemical accumulation, as in the case of temperature and light exposure influence on anthocyanin accumulation in certain potato cultivars. In this study, we treated Fortress Russet tubers with the phytohormone, ethylene, at two concentrations for three weeks. Tubers treated with 5 PPM ethylene expressed more anthocyanin pigment compared to 1PPM and a control. We also tested different temperature treatments to reduce anthocyanin levels in tubers expressing pink flesh. Tubers maintained at 55 °F showed reduced anthocyanin levels compared to tubers kept at 38 or 45 °F. These results suggest that Fortress Russet tubers accumulate anthocyanin pigments when exposed to postharvest abiotic stresses. Postharvest treatments such as storage temperature may mitigate pink flesh resulting from anthocyanin accumulation to some degree.