ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.

Sec. Plant Biotechnology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1518924

This article is part of the Research TopicIn-Depth Understanding of Post-harvest Metabolomic and Molecular Responses of Fresh ProduceView all 6 articles

Mechanistic Insights into Nutrient Profiles, Cellulose, and Hemicellulose Dynamics in Red and Green Toona sinensis Buds During Cold Storage

Provisionally accepted
Guo-Fei TanGuo-Fei Tan1,2*Qian ZhaoQian Zhao2Fu WangFu Wang2Shu-Yao LiShu-Yao Li2Zi-Yu LiuZi-Yu Liu2Xin-Qi ZhangXin-Qi Zhang1Xiu-Lai ZhongXiu-Lai Zhong2Shun-Hua ZhuShun-Hua Zhu2Xiu-Juan LeiXiu-Juan Lei3Zhong-Min HanZhong-Min Han3Jian ZhangJian Zhang2,4*
  • 1Institute of Horticulture, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang, China
  • 2College of Agronomy, Jilin Agriculture University, Jilin, China
  • 3College of Chinese Medicine Materials, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China
  • 4University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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Toona sinensis (T. sinensis) is a popular woody vegetable with distinct red and green varieties in China. Despite its significance, research on the comparative nutrient composition profiles and cellulose and hemicellulose dynamics between these two varieties remains limited. This study comprehensively investigated the refrigerated storage characteristics of T. sinensis buds from multiple aspects, related to cellulose and hemicellulose synthesis. The results showed marked differences between the two varieties during 3 d postharvest storage. Green T. sinensis buds had more severe blackening at the petiole base. Green T. sinensis buds were also richer in vitamin C (Vc), protein, reducing sugars, flavonoids, and total phenols, while red T. sinensis buds had higher total sugar content. In terms of enzyme activities, red T. sinensis buds had elevated β-xylosidase metabolizes hemicellulose content over 28.65 mg•g -1 higher than that of green T. sinensis buds, while green T. sinensis buds increased cellulase (CL) activity led to a hemicellulose content 26.60 mg•g -1 high than red T. sinensis buds. The cell wall thickening and polygonal cell shape during storage were closely associated with the increase in hemicellulose content. Additionally, red T. sinensis buds exhibited elevated CAT and SOD activities in response to oxidative stress induced by increased MDA levels. In summary, green T. sinensis buds demonstrated higher nutritional value but reduced storage stability and enhanced lignification compared to red T. sinensis buds. This research not only provides a multi-dimensional understanding of T. sinensis storage characteristics, but also lays a foundation for the development of scientific storage and preservation methods.

Keywords: T. sinensis buds, Nutrient component, Cold storage, Cytological observation, Observation, Gene Expression

Received: 29 Oct 2024; Accepted: 11 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Tan, Zhao, Wang, Li, Liu, Zhang, Zhong, Zhu, Lei, Han and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Guo-Fei Tan, Institute of Horticulture, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang, China
Jian Zhang, College of Agronomy, Jilin Agriculture University, Jilin, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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