Effects of Exogenous ATP Treatment on Postharvest Quality of Sweet Cherry and Tomato Fruits

Sweet cherry ( Prunus avium L .) and tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) are highly perishable fruits that frequently undergo rapid quality deterioration after harvest, largely due to oxidative stress during the storage period. Although exogenous ATP (adenosine triphosphate) has been reported to delay senescence in several species of fruits, whether exogenous ATP treatment could delay the quality deterioration in postharvest sweet cherry and tomato fruits and its effects on oxidative stress during the postharvest storage of sweet cherry and tomato fruits remain unknown. In this study, the effects of postharvest dip treatment with ATP (1.0 mmol/L for 30 min) on quality maintenance and oxidative status of sweet cherry and tomato fruits were investigated during the storage at 28°C with 80% relative humidity by a sensor humidifier for 8 days. Key quality and physiology parameters, including fruit firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content, soluble protein, total phenolics, total flavonoids, and antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)), reactive oxygen species accumulation (H 2 O 2 and O 2 − ), lipid peroxidation (MDA), and total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC) were evaluated. The observations showed that the ATP‐treated fruits were helpful in maintaining quality and exhibited delayed firmness loss, higher retention of nutritional components, reduced oxidative damage, and enhanced antioxidant capacity, compared with the controls. These results suggest that exogenous ATP treatment is helpful in the maintenance of the postharvest quality of sweet cherries and tomatoes and alleviate oxidative stress during the storage period, and its effects could depend on the regulation of physiological characteristics by extracellular ATP signaling.