RE-EAT

The Rocha's pear sector generates around 120 to 130 million euros, of which about 90 million comes from exports. The fruit is currently facing problems resulting from the use of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), an ethylene antagonist, used to prevent surface scalding, but which prevents the normal ripening of the fruit and affects the final quality. These constraints, currently without alternative, result in high economic losses for the sector. The sustainability of the production is thus conditioned by the capacity to develop new strategies for monitoring and regulating the ripening of the Rocha pear, subsequente to treatment with 1-MCP, to ensure quality upon arrival to the consumer. The
recommended treatments that work as reversers of the evergreen effect of 1-MCP are based on stress induction capable of triggering the reactivation of the ethylene receptors and of inducing the maturation metabolic process at the enzyme and gene level of ethylene biosynthesis. Thus, pears preserved with 1-MCP will be exposed to factors such as temperature, exogenous ethylene, other plant hormones / products, elevation of CO2 percentage or combinations of these factors and will be monitored through sensors developed for selected maturation markers aiming at modulating the maturing process in order to be able to seal the ripened fruit in different times of the year and catering
to different market preferences.