Metabolic Changes in Excised Fruit Tissue. IV. Changes Occurring in Discs of Apple Peel During the Development of the Respiration Climacteric.

It is shown that a sequential development of a series of enzyme systems occurs in the peel of the apple as the respiration climacteric develops in the whole fruit. The sequence of development of these systems, i.e. acetate incorporation into lipid, production of ethylene, incorporation of amino acid into protein and, finally, the decarboxylation of added malate (malate effect) is the same as that shown earlier for the short term (24 hr) aging of peel discs from pre-climacteric apples. As these systems appear in the initial discs from fruit passing through the climacteric they gradually cease to increase during the 24 hour aging period. Uptake studies show that none of the changes in these systems can be due solely to changes in the permeability of the tissue over the climacteric period. On the basis of these results it is tentatively suggested that the aging of discs from pre-climacteric tissue might provide a model system for a detailed study of the physiological and biochemical changes occurring during the climacteric of apple fruits.