Developmental metabolomics to decipher and improve fleshy fruit quality

Abstract Fruit quality, that remains crucial to human nutrition and health, is closely related to biochemical composition, mostly, although not only, due to low molecular-weight metabolites. Final fruit quality results from coordinated physiological processes during development from anthesis to growth and ripe stages. Fruit development and quality may be modulated in response to (a)biotic stress, as well as through compositional evolution postharvest. Biotic stress effects are not addressed here. Comprehensive biochemical analyses of the metabolome have been used to describe and generate knowledge concerning fruit biochemical composition and metabolism, and their developmental and spatial changes before and after harvest. They have involved NMR- or MS-based fingerprinting, profiling or imaging strategies, possibly combined with targeted analyses (e.g., antioxidant metabolites). In this chapter, we first stress analytical aspects crucial for fruit metabolomics. Then, recent examples concerning metabolomics of temperate and tropical fleshy fruits (fresh, not processed), whether they are models or species of agronomical interest, are discussed in the context of possible impacts on fruit agricultural practices or breeding. These cases concern metabolism reprogramming during fruit set, development and postharvest, environmental effects, gene functional analysis, genetics and systems biology. Major current challenges of specific interest for fruit metabolomics are also discussed as examples of the problems and possibilities for this exciting research field.