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Antioxidant System Differential Regulation is Involved in Coffee Ripening Time at Different Altitudes

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Abstract

Fruit ripening can be seen as an oxidative phenomenon that, depending on its intensity, may directly influence fruit quality. At relatively higher altitudes, coffee fruit ripening takes place through an extended period of time, which positively affects coffee quality. However, little is known about the oxidative processes and antioxidant metabolism of coffee fruits grown at these altitudes. Thus, this study aimed to characterise coffee fruit development from trees grown at two contrasting altitudes (965 m and 1310 m) through phenological analysis and antioxidant metabolism evaluation (Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents; superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity and gene expression). Phenological analysis showed that altitude extended coffee reproductive cycle by a month and promoted a higher ripening uniformity, with 100% of fruits at the ideal ripening stage for harvest (cherry stage) in the last evaluation time. H2O2 and malondialdehyde contents revealed that in both altitudes fruits went through oxidative damage, though in an early manner at the lower altitude. Although gene expression and enzyme activity did not well correlate, the delay in the oxidative damage in fruits of the higher altitude was probably a result of an increased efficiency in H2O2 neutralisation due to the higher activity levels of the APX and CAT enzymes, mainly in green fruits. Thus, a better removal of reactive oxygen species in coffee fruits from plants grown at higher altitudes is involved in the extension of the coffee reproductive cycle, contributing to the production of a higher cup quality coffee.

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Abbreviations

H2O2 :

Hydrogen peroxide

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

CAT:

Catalase

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

ROS:

Reactive Oxygen Species

RT-qPCR:

Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction

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Acknowledgments

We thank the “Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Café (INCT-Café)”, the “Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (Fapemig)”, the “Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de nível Superior (CAPES)”, and the “Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)” for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária de Minas Gerais - EPAMIG Sul - Campus da Universidade Federal de Lavras – UFLA, Rodovia Lavras/ Ijaci km 02, CEP: 37200-000, Caixa Postal, Lavras, MG, 176, Brazil

    Meline Oliveira Santos & Helbert Rezende de Oliveira Silveira

  2. Setor de Fisiologia Vegetal, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, UFLA, CEP: 37200-000, Caixa Postal, Lavras, MG, 3037, Brazil

    Kamila Rezende Dázio de Souza, André Almeida Lima, Lissa Vasconcellos Vilas Boas, José Donizeti Alves & Antonio Chalfun-Junior

  3. Center for Coffee Research and Education, Texas A & M University, 229 AgriLife Services Building, College Station, TX, 77843-2133, USA

    Bárbara Castanheira Ferrara Barbosa

  4. Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Campus de Palmas - Quadra 109 Norte Avenida NS 15, Caixa Postal, Palmas, TO, 77001090, Brazil

    Horllys Gomes Barreto

  5. Plant Molecular Physiology Laboratory, Biology Department, Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), s/n - Cx. P. 3037, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Antonio Chalfun-Junior

Authors
  1. Meline Oliveira Santos
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  2. Helbert Rezende de Oliveira Silveira
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  3. Kamila Rezende Dázio de Souza
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  4. André Almeida Lima
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  5. Lissa Vasconcellos Vilas Boas
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  6. Bárbara Castanheira Ferrara Barbosa
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  8. José Donizeti Alves
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  9. Antonio Chalfun-Junior
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Contributions

MS, JA and AC-J conceived and designed the study. MS performed most of the experiments. HS, KS and LB performed the phenological and biochemical analysis. AL, BB, and HB contributed to the gene expression analysis. AL wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonio Chalfun-Junior.

Additional information

Communicated by: Philippe Lashermes

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Santos, M.O., de Oliveira Silveira, H.R., de Souza, K.R.D. et al. Antioxidant System Differential Regulation is Involved in Coffee Ripening Time at Different Altitudes. Tropical Plant Biol. 11, 131–140 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12042-018-9206-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12042-018-9206-2

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