Tocochromanols and chlorophylls accumulation in young pomelo (Citrus maxima) during early fruit development.

Pomelo is an important cultivar of the genus Citrus that contains a variety of beneficial nutrients, and its young fruit is an agricultural by-product that is currently not fully utilized because it is often thrown away during cultivation and management. In this study, the dynamics of tocochromanol during young pomelo development were investigated by measuring chlorophyll content, tocochromanol accumulation, and expression levels of related genes during early fruit development. The results showed that chlorophyll content decreased overall during these four developmental stages and had some synergism with tocochromanol. Four tocochromanol components were detected in pomelo of both genotypes, and α-tocopherol was the main component. The tocochromanol content of honey pomelo was highest in the first period, reaching 70±5 μg/g in dry weight (DW), and golden pomelo peaked in the second period at 86.10±0.18 μg/g DW, with an overall decreasing trend in both genotypes. The different gene expression patterns of the...