Acidic electrolyzed water treatment retards softening and retains cell wall polysaccharides in pulp of postharvest fresh longans and its possible mechanism

Effects of acidic electrolyzed water (AEW) treatment (pH = 2.5, ACC = 80 mg L(−1), 10 min) on pulp firmness, amounts of CWM and CWP, activities and expression of relevant genes of CWDEs in pulp of Fuyan longan during storage at 25 °C were evaluated. Compared to control samples, during storage, AEW-treated fruit retained a higher pulp firmness, prevented WSP formation, reduced the degradation of CSP, cellulose and hemicellulose, and lowered CWDEs activities and their corresponding gene expression. When stored for 5 d, pulp firmness (113.6 g mm(−1)), CWM (13.9 g kg(−1)), and CSP (1.4 g kg(−1)) in AEW-treated fruit displayed the clearly higher contents than those in control samples. These data suggest that AEW treatment can slow down the pulp softening and retain higher pulp CWP levels in postharvest fresh longans, which was because AEW lowered activities of CWDEs and its gene expression levels, and maintained the cell wall structure's integrity.