Effect of gibberellic acid on cell wall degradation and softening in postharvest okras

The effect of postharvest gibberellic acid (GA) treatment on fruit softening, cell wall components, and cell wall metabolic genes in postharvest okras was explored. GA effectively slowed the softening of postharvest okras. In comparison to the control, okras treated with GA displayed higher levels of protopectin (PP) and cellulose (CEL), but lower level of water-soluble pectin (WSP). GA treatment could block cell wall degradation via the downregulation of multiple cell wall-degrading genes, such as AePME, AeCX, AePG, AePL, AeGAL, and AeARF. Collectively, our study revealed that GA treatment postponed softening of postharvest okras by retarding cell wall degradation during storage.