Effects of irrigation on fruit ripening behavior and metabolic changes in olive

Olive (Olea europaea, cv Leccino) fruits grown under different water regimes were analyzed by metabolomics and specific transcript accumulation analyses. The fruit from non-irrigated (rain-fed) and irrigated trees cultivated under field conditions, with a seasonal water amount equivalent to the calculated crop evapotranspiration (ETc) was compared in the last developmental phase and, in particular, at commercial harvest. Metabolomics (GC-MS) analysis identified several hundred metabolites in ripe mesocarp, 46 of which showed significantly different contents in the rain-fed and irrigated samples. Some compounds involved in primary metabolism (carbohydrates, amino acids, organic acids) and se…