Table 4.

Effects of exogenous melatonin on the preservation and quality of post-harvest vegetables.

Common name	Scientific name	Melatonin treatment concentration (µM)	Optimum concentration (µM)	Treatment time	Treatment method	Effect	References
Cucumber	Cucumis sativus cv. Jinyan No. 4	0; 50; 100; 500	500	2 h	Immersed	Decrease of chlorophyll, vitamin C, the content of titration-acid and soluble protein ↓	Xin et al., 2017
Cassava	Manihot esculenta cv. SC124	100	100	2 h	Soaked	PPD ↓; H2O2 content ↓; activities of CAT and POD during the PPD process ↑	Hu et al., 2016
	Manihot esculenta cv. Crantz	500	500	2 h	Incubated	SOD and CAT activities during PPD progression ↑	Ma et al., 2016
Broccoli	Brassica oleracea cv. Italica Planch	0; 100	100	5 min	Immersed	Storage life ↑	Zhu et al., 2018
Tomato	Solanum lycopersicum cv. Bmei	50	50	2 h	Immersed	Fruit ripening ↑; anthocyanin accumulation↑	Sun et al., 2016
	Solanum lycopersicum cv. Bmei	0; 1; 50; 100; 500	50	2 h	Immersed	Lycopene levels ↑; the expression level of PSY1 and CRTISO ↑; fruit softening ↑; ethylene production ↑; water-soluble pectin ↑; protopectin ↓	Sun et al., 2015
Potato	Solanum tuberosum	0; 1,000; 3,000; 6,000; 8,000; 10,000	10,000	12 h	Sprayed	Potato late blight ↓	Zhang et al., 2017a

↓ indicated decrease; ↑ indicated increase.

PPD, post-harvest physiological deterioration; H₂O₂, hydrogen peroxide; CAT, catalase; POD: peroxidase; SOD, superoxide dismutase; PSY1, phytoene synthase1; CRTISO, carotenoid isomerase.