Effects of Inclusion Compounds of 1-Methylcyclopropene/α -Cyclodextrin or 1-Methyl-3-(2-Methylcyclopropyl)-1- Cyclopropene/Cu-β -Cyclodextrin on the Preservation of Sweet Cherry ( Prunus avium L.)

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) was used to study the effects of 500, 1000 and 2000 nl/l 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP; released from the inclusion compound of 1-methylcyclopropene/α -cyclodextrin; 1- MCP/α-CD) and 800, 1600 and 3200 nl/l 1-methyl-3- (2-methylcyclopropyl)-1-cyclopropene (1-MMCPCP; released from the inclusion compound of 1-methyl- 3-(2-methylcyclopropyl)-1-cyclopropene/Cu-β-CD; 1- MMCPCP/Cu-β-CD) on storage quality at ambient temperature after 8 h of treatment. UV spectra indicated both 1-MCP and 1-MMCPCP distinctly slowed down the increasing rate of browning level and the decreasing rate of titratable acidity content, soluble protein content, superoxide dismutase activity and ascorbate peroxidase activity of sweet cherry. However, they had little control on the decrease in soluble solids content. As a whole, the quality of treated sweet cherry was preserved much better than that of the controls. Moreover, a comparison between 1- MMCPCP/Cu-β -cyclodextrin and 1-MCP/α -cyclodextrin showed that the preservation effects of these two inclusion compounds were similar.