Abstract:

The wound signal in fresh-cut Romaine lettuce was studied in this paper. The result showed that wound signal was originated at the site of injury in lettuce tissue and propagated into adjacent tissue where it induced a number of physiological responses, such as the synthesis of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), the synthesis and accumulation of phenolic compounds and the browning of cutting surface. The wound signal transduction was significantly inhibited by hexanol. However, extract from lettuce and avocado overcame its inhibition which suggested that wound signal can be transduce in solutions. It also showed that the wound signal in lettuce may not belong to protein substance.