Anthocyanin, Carotenoid, and Chlorophyll Changes in the Peel of Cox's Orange Pippin Apples during Ripening on and off the Tree

The concentrations of various peel pigments of Cox’s OrangePippin apples have been measured during ripening on the treeand during storage at 12 °C. Total chlorophyll decreased and total carotenoid increased atthe time of the respiration climacteric. These changes weremore pronounced in fruit maturing on the tree where a significantincrease of anthocyanin occurred; it did not occur in storedfruit. There was no consistent or marked difference in the ratesof destruction of chlorophylls a and b. The carotenoids found in the unripe fruit were those characteristicof photosynthetic tissue, ß-carotene, lutein, violaxanthin,and neoxanthin. These decreased to a greater or lesser extent,and at different rates, on and off the tree. Other carotenoidswhich increased greatly during ripening were identified as esters,mainly of violaxanthin. During the climacteric there is a transition from an assemblageof pigments associated with the chloroplast to that typicalof a chromoplast.