Postharvest effects on the quality of horticultural products: Using 1-MCP to understand the effects of ethylene on ripening and senescence processes

The inhibitor of ethylene perception, 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), is a compound that is non-toxic, easily administered as a gas and effective in low concentrations. Availability of 1-MCP has resulted in an explosion of research activity around the world to test its utility as the basis of a technology to improve storage potential and maintaining quality of fruit and vegetables. At the same time, 1-MCP has also provided a valuable tool to understand the effects of ethylene on ripening and senescence. In this paper, the effects of 1-MCP on the important factors associated with product quality - pigments, softening, flavor and aroma, nutrition, and on physiological and pathological disorders - are reviewed. Understanding of the effects of 1-MCP on these factors is critical to the development of this breakthrough technology as many horticultural products will rely on the successful delay, but not complete inhibition, of ripening and senescence processes.