With tomatoes (Kozu) cultured in the glass house, changes of contents of phospholipid (PL), their fatty acid composition, and some enzyme activities were investigated through maturation on the tree and after harvest. For the after-ripening, fruits were harvested at breaker stage and stored at 20°C. The results were compared with that of the previous report with fruits cultured in the open.
1) Total PL were only half the contents of that in tomatoes cultured in the open, and little change was observed during ripening after harvest.
2) Phospholipids were separated with thin layer chromatography. Phosphatidyl choline (PC) and ph. ethanolamine (PE) were found as the major constituents of the PL.
3) The PC contents decreased with maturation and reached a minimum near climacteric peak stage, afterthat tended to increase with advance of after-ripening. On the contrary, the PE contents showed the opposite tendency to the change of PC.
4) The fatty acid compositions of total PL, PC, PE, ph. inositol, and cardiolipid were analyzed with gas-liquid chromatography. In the tomatoes cultured in glass house, higher ratios of unsaturated fatty acid and of higher fatty acid were found as compared with the tomatoes cultured in the open. It appeared that unsaturated fatty acids increased during ripening after harvest.
5) Lipoxidase and peroxidase activities increased with progress of afterripening, and reached a maximum three days after harvest, then the former tended to decrease while the latter remained constantly during subsequent storage period. Catalase activity, however, increased continuously with progress of maturation and storage periods.
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