Open Access

ARTICLE

Application of two forms of silicon and their impact on the postharvest and the content of bioactive compounds in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) fruits

YOLANDA GONZÁLEZ-GARCÍA¹, VALERIA FLORES-ROBLES², GREGORIO CADENAS-PLIEGO³, ADALBERTO BENAVIDES-MENDOZA⁴, MARCELINO CABRERA DE LA FUENTE⁴, ALBERTO SANDOVAL-RANGEL⁴, ANTONIO JUÁREZ-MALDONADO^1,*

1 Departamento de Botánica, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, 25315, México
2 Maestría en Ciencias en Horticultura, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, 25315, México
3 Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Saltillo, 25294, México
4 Departamento de Horticultura, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, 25315, México

* Corresponding Author: ANTONIO JUÁREZ-MALDONADO. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plant Stress Tolerance)

BIOCELL 2022, 46(11), 2497-2506. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2022.021861

Received 09 February 2022; Accepted 18 April 2022; Issue published 07 July 2022

Abstract

The metabolic activity of the fruits continues even after harvest, which results in the loss of bioactive compounds, a decrease in the quality of the fruits, softening and browning, among other negative effects. The use of certain elements such as silicon can improve postharvest quality, since it is involved in the metabolic, physiological and structural activity of plants, moreover can increase the quality of the fruits. In addition, nanotechnology has had a positive impact on crop yield, nutritional value, fruit quality and can improve antioxidant activity. For these reasons, the use of beneficial elements such as silicon in the form of nanoparticles can be a viable option to improve the characteristics of the fruits. In the present study was evaluated the application of potassium silicate (125, 250 and 500 mg L⁻¹) and SiO₂ nanoparticles (125, 250 and 500 mg L⁻¹) during the development of the crop. The results showed that the application of silicon (potassium silicate and silicon nanoparticles) increased the content of total soluble solids (up to 15.6% higher than control), titratable acidity (up to 38.8% higher than control), vitamin C (up to 78.2% higher than control), phenols (up to 22% higher than control), flavonoids (up to 64.6% higher than control), and antioxidant activity in lipophilic compounds (up to 56.2% higher than control). This study suggests that the use of silicon can be a good option to increase the content of bioactive compounds in cucumber fruits when they are applied during the development of the crop.

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