Abstract Narcissa

The Effect of Refrigeration on Volatile Production in Tomato Cells Narcissa Agnieszka Mentor: Dr. Randy Beaudry, Nobuko Sugimoto Department of Horticulture Michigan State University HSHSP Abstract The tomato is an herbaceous plant eaten freely around the world in all sorts of salads and dishes and as a raw fruit or a cooked vegetable. One major complaint of tomato lovers, however, is that a tomato, after being transported thousands of miles from regions where these fruits are grown, would lose most of its delectable flavor after being stored in a refrigerator (Yilmaz, 2000). Of the possible volatiles that could contribute to this loss in flavor, cis-3-Hexenal had the highest concentration in the tomato (12,000 parts per billion), and the highest log odor unit: 3.7 (Kazeniac, 1970). In addition, cis-3Hexenal is one of the few volatiles whose concentration increases after tissue disruption, which is known to be the moment a tomato begins to generate its characteristic taste and smell (Buttery & Ling, 1993). In order to test this hypothesis, I extracted RNA from many samples of tomatoes stored at differing temperatures after harvest. Afterwards, I used a microarray assay to analyze the differences in RNA production and, therefore, gene activity, between the tomatoes stored at different temperatures. Tests have shown that there is a higher concentration of cis-3-Hexenal in tomatoes stored at room temperature when compared to tomatoes stored at 5° Celsius. References Buttery, R. G., and L. C. Ling. "The Chemistry of Fresh Tomatos." Flavor Precursors. Ed. P. Schreier and P. Winterhalter. Wheaton, IL: Allured Pub. Co., 1993. Kazeniac, S. J. Flavor Chemistry of Tomato Volatiles. Vol. 35. J. Food Sci., 1970. 519530. Yilmaz, E. The Chemistry of Fresh Tomato Flavor. Diss. Canakkale Onsekiz Mart Univ., 2000. 15 July 2008 <journals.tubitak.gov.tr/agriculture/issues/tar-01-25-3/tar-25-3-10007-14.pdf>.