Acta Agriculturae Boreali-Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (2): 92-100. doi: 10.7668/hbnxb.20196623

Special Issue: Tomato Vegetables Cultivation & Physiology

• Tillage & Cultivation·Physiology & Biochemistry • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of Exogenous γ-aminobutyric Acid Treatment on Nutritional Quality and Antioxidant Activity in Cherry Tomato

SHAO Huanyu1,2, LIU Guangmin2, WANG Yaqin2, WEI Lei2, WANG Yimiao1, KONG Lingmin1, FU Yuxia1, HUANG Wei1   

  1. 1 College of Agriculture and Forestry Science and Technology, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075000, China
    2 Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China
  • Received:2025-11-24 Published:2026-05-06

Abstract:

In order to investigate the effects of different concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid(GABA)on the nutritional quality and antioxidant activity of cherry tomatoes,cherry tomatoes were used as experimental materials.Foliar spraying of GABA solutions with different concentrations(0,5,10,20,and 40 mmol/L,denoted as CK,G5,G10,G20,and G40,respectively)was initiated at 15 days after the anthesis of the 3rd inflorescence.It aimed to explore the impacts of exogenous GABA application on the nutritional quality,endogenous GABA content,and antioxidant activity-related indicators of cherry tomatoes.The results showed that exogenous GABA treatment could significantly improve the nutritional quality and antioxidant capacity of cherry tomatoes.With the increase in treatment concentration,the contents of soluble sugar,total phenols,and total flavonoids,as well as the sugar-acid ratio,increased continuously.Nutritional quality indicators such as vitamin C content,soluble sugar content,and sugar-acid ratio all reached their maximum values under the G40 treatment.The contents of total phenols and total flavonoids in the G40 treatment were significantly higher than those in other treatments except G20,increasing by 24.26% and 91.75% compared with CK,respectively.The lycopene content of cherry tomatoes under the G40 treatment was the highest,which was significantly 85.96% higher than that of CK.The endogenous GABA content first increased and then decreased with the elevation of treatment concentration,reaching the maximum value under the G20 treatment,which was significantly 101.85% higher than that of the control.However,there was no significant difference in endogenous GABA content between the G20 and G40 treatments.Both DPPH free radical scavenging activity and FRAP antioxidant capacity were synchronously enhanced,and both reached their maximum values under the G40 treatment,which were significantly higher than those of CK.Correlation analysis indicated that the antioxidant capacity of cherry tomatoes was extremely significantly positively correlated with total phenols,total flavonoids,and lycopene.In conclusion,exogenous GABA(G40 treatment)can serve as a green and efficient strategy to enhance the nutritional quality and antioxidant activity of cherry tomato fruits.

Key words: Cherry tomato, Nutritional quality, GABA, Antioxidant capacity

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Cite this article

SHAO Huanyu, LIU Guangmin, WANG Yaqin, WEI Lei, WANG Yimiao, KONG Lingmin, FU Yuxia, HUANG Wei. Effects of Exogenous γ-aminobutyric Acid Treatment on Nutritional Quality and Antioxidant Activity in Cherry Tomato[J]. Acta Agriculturae Boreali-Sinica, 2026, 41(2): 92-100. doi: 10.7668/hbnxb.20196623.

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