Untargeted Metabolomics Unveils the Edaphic Stress Impact on Habanero Pepper Ripening Fruit

Habanero (Capsicum chinense) is appreciated for its aroma and pungency; however, little is known of the stress effects on Habanero fruits. This work, through untargeted metabolomics, measures changes in the Habanero fruit pericarp under increased salinity and nitrogen and phosphorus deficiency at three ripening stages. Responses to salinity and macronutrient deficiency are stress-and ripening stage-specific, with a few features (<1% in N and P deficit; ca. 1.5% in salinity) being consistently affected through maturation, with the most evident changes in ripe fruit. Results point to a threshold in salinity, between 4 and 7 dS center dot m-1, above which a measurable response is seen. Nitrogen deficiency has a symmetric effect on feature abundance, pointing at a metabolite substitution in the pericarp; in contrast, phosphorus deficiency leads to an overall reduction in metabolite diversity, which could negatively affect the postharvest shelf-life. This work shows that untargeted approaches help to improve our understanding of Habanero fruit metabolism under stress conditions beyond traditional metrics.