Arginine catabolism induced by exogenous arginine treatment reduces the loss of green color rate in broccoli florets

The effects of exogenous application of l-arginine (one and five mM) treatment on shelf life, arginine metabolism, and catabolism-related enzyme activates in broccoli floret were studied after 4 days of storage at 20 °C in the dark. Our result shows that arginine reduced electrolyte leakage (EL), and malondialdehyde (MDA) content and increased chlorophyll and polyamine content and Arginase, l-arginine decarboxylase (ADC), and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) enzyme activity in comparison to the control group. Relative to the untreated group, arginine treatment efficiently prevented the negative effects on the color of broccoli and declined the degradation of chlorophyll. It was concluded that exogenous application of arginine decreases the yellowing of broccoli florets and can represent a real method for reducing postharvest injuries in broccoli.