Involvement of branched RG-I pectin with hemicellulose in cell–cell adhesion of tomato during fruit softening

Cell adhesion of four cultivars of tomato fruit, "Micro Tom (MT)", "Heinz 1706 (H1706)", "Money Maker (MM)", "Ailsa Craig (AC)" were evaluated and cell walls were analyzed in order to assess the possible contribution of pectic and hemicellulosic polysaccharides to the softening and altered cell adhesion at two different stages of ripeness. Cell wall material (CWM) and solubilised fractions of green and red ripe fruit were analyzed by chemical, enzymatic techniques. In comparison with the four cultivars of tomato fruits, H1706 and MM are harder than MT and AC at both green and red ripe stage. The ripening-associated solubilisation of rhamnogalacturonan-riched pectic polysaccharides was reduced in H1706 and MM, and the content of side -chain sugars from RG-I reduced by more than 50% in MT and AC. In addition to recognized pectic modifying enzymes, RGase had a good effect on cell separation of H1706 and MM fruit at red ripe stage. The higher RG-I content and branching degree have been associated with increased cell adhesion and reduced cell wall porosity, thus maintained fruit firmness.