Proteomic changes in sweet cherry fruit (cv. ‘Tsolakeika’) in response to calcium application.

The experiment was performed in a commercial sweet cherry (cv. Tsolakeika, Prunus avium L.) orchard in North Greece (Edessa) during 2017 growing season. The orchard contained 10-years old trees, planted at 5x5 m spacing between rows and along the row, grafted onto Mahaleb cherry (Prunus mahaleb L.) rootstock, trained in open vase and subjected to standard cultural practices. Three foliar sprays (0.5% or 35 mM CaCl2) were performed at 15, 27 and 37 days after full blossom (DAFB). Cherry fruits (exocarp plus mesocarp tissues) were sampled in two developmental stages, namely at full red color (44 DAFB, S4 stage) and at commercial harvest (55 DAFB, S5 stage). Three biological replicates of 20-fruit sub-lots in control and Ca-treated fruits were frozen in liquid nitrogen, grinding in fine powder and stored at -80 ⁰C for proteomic processing.