Abstract
Artificial pollination has gained increasing attention in kiwifruit cultivation; however, how different pollination methods influence fruit maturity and ripening remains poorly understood. To address this, the physiological, metabolomic, proteomic and gene expression impact of pollination methods (artificial versus open-field pollination) on the pericarp, placenta and seed tissue of Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa A. Chev. ‘Hayward’ kiwifruit at maturity harvest and during postharvest ripening following short and long cold storage was investigated. Artificial pollination enhanced fruit set and seed number, resulting in increased fruit size and weight at harvest compared to open-field pollination, supporting its role in improving kiwifruit yield. Metabolomic analysis revealed that carbon is primarily redirected from sugar synthesis toward organic acid production in artificially pollinated fruit. Tissue-specific proteomic analysis indicated that artificial pollination alters plant growth regulator dynamics and induce extensive stress-associated responses. Moreover, artificial pollination accelerated kiwifruit ripening as evidenced by increased ethylene production and faster fruit softening. These changes were accompanied by altered expression of genes and proteins involved in ethylene signaling and cell wall structure, potentially reducing postharvest longevity. Additionally, artificial pollination decreased key esters and increased aldehydes, thus altering aroma volatile profiles. It also reduced the levels of important polyphenols, particularly catechin, epicatechin and procyanidin B2, which aligned with observed changes in gene expression. These findings highlight a critical trade-off: while artificial pollination enhances yield, it also modulates physiological processes that may compromise postharvest fruit quality. Overall, this study provides new insights into how pollination influences kiwifruit maturity and ripening, supporting pollination-based strategies to enhance both fruit yield and quality.
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Claims 13
Claim · model-written summary
Artificial pollination increased fruit set and seed number.
- Taxon
- kiwifruit
Actinidia deliciosat0 - Treatment
- Artificial pollinatione0
- Outcome
- fruit set and seed numbere0
- Direction
- enhancede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Artificial pollination enhanced fruit set and seed number”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Artificial pollination increased fruit size and weight at harvest relative to open-field pollination.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Outcome
- fruit size and weighte0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Comparator
- open-field pollinatione0
Not reportedTreatment
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“resulting in increased fruit size and weight at harvest compared to open-field pollination”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Artificially pollinated fruit redirected carbon from sugar synthesis toward organic acid production.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Treatment
- artificially pollinatede0
- Outcome
- carbon is primarily redirected from sugar synthesis toward organic acid productione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“carbon is primarily redirected from sugar synthesis toward organic acid production in artificially pollinated fruit”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Artificial pollination altered plant growth regulator dynamics.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Treatment
- artificial pollinatione0
- Outcome
- plant growth regulator dynamicse0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“artificial pollination alters plant growth regulator dynamics and induce extensive stress-associated responses”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Artificial pollination induced extensive stress-associated responses.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Treatment
- artificial pollinatione0
- Outcome
- stress-associated responsese0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“artificial pollination alters plant growth regulator dynamics and induce extensive stress-associated responses”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Artificial pollination accelerated ripening.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Treatment
- artificial pollinatione0
- Outcome
- kiwifruit ripeninge0
- Direction
- acceleratede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“artificial pollination accelerated kiwifruit ripening”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Artificial pollination increased ethylene production.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Outcome
- ethylene productione0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increased ethylene production and faster fruit softening”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Artificial pollination accelerated fruit softening.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Outcome
- fruit softeninge0
- Direction
- fastere0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increased ethylene production and faster fruit softening”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Genes and proteins involved in ethylene signaling and cell wall structure changed expression.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Gene
- genes and proteins involved in ethylene signaling and cell wall structuree0
- Outcome
- altered expressione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“altered expression of genes and proteins involved in ethylene signaling and cell wall structure”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Artificial pollination reduced key esters.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Treatment
- artificial pollinatione0
- Outcome
- key esterse0
- Direction
- decreasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“artificial pollination decreased key esters and increased aldehydes”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Artificial pollination increased aldehydes.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Treatment
- artificial pollinatione0
- Outcome
- aldehydese0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“artificial pollination decreased key esters and increased aldehydes”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Artificial pollination reduced catechin, epicatechin and procyanidin B2 levels.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Outcome
- levels of important polyphenols, particularly catechin, epicatechin and procyanidin B2e0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“It also reduced the levels of important polyphenols, particularly catechin, epicatechin and procyanidin B2”
t0“kiwifruit”
Claim · model-written summary
Polyphenol changes aligned with changes in gene expression.
- Taxon
- kiwifruitActinidia deliciosat0
- Outcome
- changes in gene expressione0
- Qualifier
- aligned withe0
Not reportedOrgan / stageDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“which aligned with observed changes in gene expression”
t0“kiwifruit”
The same questions in other papers
pollination · molecular: metabolites · Actinidia deliciosa (kiwifruit)Positive and negative results
1 paper in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- positive
- no effect
pollination · yield · Actinidia deliciosa (kiwifruit)Positive and negative results
7 papers in the same direction as this paper · 3 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- negative
7 papers more in this group
See all 11 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.