The effect of Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate (EGCG), a main active ingredient in tea residues, on improving fruit quality and prolonging postharvest storage in apple

EGCG, as an active oxygen scavenger, has a significant effect on inhibiting the greasiness of apples. However, the impact of greasiness on fruit storage and how EGCG eliminates this effect, as well as its influence on apple quality formation, have not been clarified. In this study, we found that exogenous application of EGCG effectively improved a series of nutritional growth indicators, including seedling growth status and photosynthetic activity. Additionally, it significantly increased indicators of reproductive growth, such as fruit diameter, soluble solids content, surface wax, and surface smoothness. Through our experiments, we further discovered that greasiness primarily affects fruit respiration, accelerating fruit decay and causing harm during storage, while EGCG mitigates this process. We also found that the application of tea residue had similar effects to exogenous EGCG. Collectively, these studies suggest that EGCG could be used as a novel foliar fertilizer to enhance overall fruit quality. Moreover, the application of tea residue has similar effects to EGCG, providing a cost-effective solution for apple production. Overall design: Fuji apples were evacuated in 5 µmol L-1 aqueous EGCG solution for 5 min, and then 30 apples each were treated in the same way using ddH2O as a control. Three apples from each treatment and control were selected for transcriptome analysis.