Fruit flesh browning is a natural oxidative phenomenon occurring after cutting or processing. This event, manifesting dark-brown coloration, can seriously limit the production and marketability of fresh cut fruit products. Antioxidant compounds can partially prevent this phenomenon, but in turn they can affect the quality and the organoleptic properties of fresh products. In this work we have investigated, through a multidisciplinary approach, the regulation of a natural non-browning phenotype of a particular apple cultivar ‘Majda’ in comparison with the browning reference apple cultivar ‘Golden Delicious’. The results highlight that the non-browning phenotype of ‘Majda’ was controlled by multiple mechanisms, particularly distinguished by a different concentration of chlorogenic acid and the expression of the polyphenol oxidase (MdPPO) gene. The metabolite assessment and gene expression profiling also disclosed the involvement of organic acids and glutathione in the prevention of oxidative browning phenomenon. The peculiar non-browning behavior of ‘Majda’ was also verified by a DPPH• kinetic approach that demonstrated the higher antioxidant activity of this apple cultivar. The results presented in this work proposed ‘Majda’ as a potential parental candidate to be considered for breeding activity oriented to select novel non-browning accessions addressed to ameliorate the sustainability of pre-cut fresh products.

果肉褐变是在切割或加工后发生的自然氧化现象。该事件表现为深棕色，会严重限制鲜切水果产品的生产和销售。抗氧化化合物可以部分防止这种现象，但它们反过来又会影响新鲜产品的质量和感官特性。在这项工作中，我们通过多学科方法研究了特定苹果品种“Majda”的自然非褐变表型的调节，并与褐变参考苹果品种“Golden Delicious”进行了比较。结果强调，'Majda' 的非褐变表型受多种机制控制，特别是不同浓度的绿原酸和多酚氧化酶(Md PPO ) 基因。代谢物评估和基因表达谱分析还揭示了有机酸和谷胱甘肽参与预防氧化褐变现象。'Majda' 特有的非褐变行为也通过 DPPH• 动力学方法得到证实，该方法证明了该苹果品种具有更高的抗氧化活性。这项工作中提出的结果建议将“Majda”作为潜在的亲本候选者考虑用于育种活动，以选择新的非褐变种质，以改善预切新鲜产品的可持续性。