Cell wall changes during on‐vine softening of kiwifruit

Cell wall changes were monitored in kiwifruit ( Actinidia deliciosa ) allowed to soften on the vine. The results were compared to those previously published for harvested fruit which had softened after an ethylene treatment. In the latter, pectin solubilisation, galactose loss, and cell wall swelling, were major events in the cell wall changes which accompanied softening. The same processes occurred in the cell walls of fruit softened on the vine although the relative timing of each process differed from those occurring in the ethylene‐treated fruit Pectin solubilisation, galactose loss, and cell wall swelling are therefore not specific responses to a postharvest ethylene treatment but appear to be general features of cell wall change in softening kiwifruit.