In this work, we examine the impact of elevated temperature during blueberry fruit ripening on the production and accumulation of anthocyanins, a key antioxidant. We profiled anthocyanins and the expression of their respective biosynthetic genes during ripening in two blueberry cultivars, Biloxi (Southern highbush) and Titan (Rabbiteye), across two seasons at controlled ripening temperatures (20 °C / 30 °C). We characterized 21 anthocyanins with diverse degrees of conjugation that remained largely stable in Titan between the two conditions. In Biloxi, cyanidin- and peonidin-derived anthocyanin signals were consistently reduced at 30 °C compared to 20 °C, corresponding with gene expression. Moreover, we found downregulation of VcF3′H, associated with delphinidin-derived flux, and of VcA3GT and VcBAHD, corresponding to reduced glycosylation and acylation. In Titan, compensatory regulation between VcF3′H and VcF3′5′H, suggesting pathway resilience. Correlation analysis suggested co-regulation within anthocyanin subclasses and inverse relationships between acylated and non-acylated forms. Overall, Titan displayed greater transcriptional and metabolic plasticity under thermal stress, highlighting temperature regulation of anthocyanins in blueberries. Our findings emphasize the need to select thermally resilient genotypes to cope with global warming scenarios.

Global demand for raspberries is rising, driven by consumer interest in their flavor and health benefits, creating a need for new cultivars adapted to warmer regions such as the Mediterranean. This study analysed fruit yield, size, taste, aroma, and health-promoting compounds of five newly developed primocane raspberry breeding lines (L12, L25, L71, L92, and L216) and compared them with the commercial cultivar (Amira) under the Mediterranean climate. The earliest-yielding breeding lines were shorter in height and produced a higher yield than the 'Amira' cultivar, partly due to larger fruit size. On a fresh weight (FW) basis, the contents of fructose (16.7 to 23.0 g kg-1 FW), glucose (16.9 to 24.3 g kg-1 FW), and sucrose (2.50- 4.90 g kg-1 FW) varied across the breeding lines. Citric acid (12.0 to 19.3 g kg-1 FW) was the predominant organic acid (about 70 % of the total acids). Total phenolic content (TPC) ranged from 4.72 to 7.05 g kg-1 FW. The total volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentration ranged from 1392 to 2562 µg kg-1 FW with aromatic norisoprenoids (β-damascenone, α-ionone, β-ionone, and dihydro-β-ionone) and raspberry ketone showing odor active value (OAV) > 1, highlighting their pivotal role in defining raspberry aroma. Our results show that breeding lines L12 and L92 were superior in several key aspects, including fruit size, yield, flavor, and health-promoting compounds. These findings highlight that breeding for primocane cultivars with early fruiting and large fruit size is a promising strategy for aromatic, tastier raspberry cultivation in warm climates.

High ripening temperatures alter blueberry fruit chemistry, yet the underlying metabolite shifts remain poorly defined. In this study, two blueberry cultivars, southern highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum cv. Biloxi) and rabbiteye (Vaccinium virgatum cv. Titan™), were grown under two controlled day/night temperature regimes, 20.0/16.0 °C and 30.0/24.0 °C, for two consecutive seasons. The negative impact of higher temperatures on fruit weight, with reductions of up to 34 %, and the sugar-to-acid ratio was more significant in Biloxi than in Titan, highlighting Titan’s relative advantage in maintaining fruit quality and taste under heat stress. Higher temperatures also impacted total volatile organic compounds in Biloxi, but not in Titan. Still, changes in key volatile organic compounds, including geraniol, linalool, and methyl 2-methylbutanoate, were detected in both cultivars that could impact the berry flavor. Our results demonstrate how temperature affects blueberry physiology and flavor traits and the adaptability of specific cultivars, i.e., Titan, to higher temperatures. The finding stresses the importance of adapting and optimizing genetic traits to environmental factors under climate change.

The effort to maintain cannabinoid and terpene levels in harvested medicinal cannabis inflorescence is crucial, as many studies demonstrated a significant concentration decrease in these compounds during the drying, curing, and storage steps. These stages are critical for the preparation and preservation of medicinal cannabis for end-use, and any decline in cannabinoid and terpene content could potentially reduce the therapeutic efficacy of the product. Consequently, in the present study, we determined the efficacy of pre-harvest hexanoic acid treatment alongside four months of post-harvest vacuum storage in prolonging the shelf life of high THCA cannabis inflorescence. Our findings indicate that hexanoic acid treatment led to elevated concentrations of certain cannabinoids and terpenes on the day of harvest and subsequent to the drying and curing processes. Furthermore, the combination of hexanoic acid treatment and vacuum storage yielded the longest shelf life and the highest cannabinoid and mono-terpene content as compared to all other groups studied. Specifically, the major cannabinoid’s—(-)-Δ9-trans-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA)—concentration decreased by 4–23% during the four months of storage with the lowest reduction observed following hexanoic acid pre-harvest treatment and post-harvest vacuum storage. Hexanoic acid spray application displayed a more pronounced impact on mono-terpene preservation than storage under vacuum without hexanoic acid treatment. Conversely, sesqui-terpenes were observed to be less prone to degradation than mono-terpenes over an extended storage duration. In summation, appropriate pre-harvest treatment coupled with optimized storage conditions can significantly extend the shelf life of cannabis inflorescence and preserve high active compound concentration over an extended time period.

A limited number of studies have examined how drying conditions affect the cannabinoid and terpene content in cannabis inflorescences. In the present study, we evaluated the potential of controlled atmosphere drying chambers for drying medicinal cannabis inflorescence. Controlled atmosphere drying chambers were found to reduce the drying and curing time by at least 60% compared to traditional drying methods, while preserving the volatile terpene content. On the other hand, inflorescences subjected to traditional drying were highly infested by Alternaria alternata and also revealed low infestation of Botrytis cinerea. In the high-THC chemovar (“240”), controlled N2 and atm drying conditions preserved THCA concentration as compared to the initial time point (t0). On the other hand, in the hybrid chemovar (“Gen12”) all of the employed drying conditions preserved THCA and CBDA content. The optimal drying conditions for preserving monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in both chemovars were C5O5 (5% CO2, 5% O2, and 90% N2) and pure N2, respectively. The results of this study suggest that each chemovar may require tailored drying conditions in order to preserve specific terpenes and cannabinoids. Controlled atmosphere drying chambers could offer a cost-effective, fast, and efficient drying method for preserving cannabinoids and terpenes during the drying process while reducing the risk of mold growth.

BACKGROUND:In recent years, hydroponically cultivated basil has gained extensive popularity over soil-based cultivation. Evidence for potential differences between both cultivation methods, in terms of resistance to biotic and abiotic stress factors, storage properties and shelf-life, is still lacking and the potential effect of cultivation method on the antioxidant capacity has not yet been fully explored. This study aimed to determine which of the two basil cultivation methods produces plants that are more resilient to downy mildew and external heat treatment and that exhibit better storage and shelf-life performance. RESULTS:Hydroponically grown basil was significantly more affected by browning than the soil-grown basil at the end of the storage and end of the shelf-life period. Under both cultivation methods, the extent of browning increased significantly between the end of the storage and end of the shelf-life period, by a factor of 1.4. Moreover, hydroponically grown plants were significantly more sensitive to heat treatment than soil-grown basil. However, the soil-grown basil exhibited significantly greater susceptibility to downy mildew than the hydroponically grown basil. At harvest, and at the end of the storage period, the antioxidant capacity of hydroponically cultivated basil was significantly greater than that of soil-grown basil. CONCLUSIONS:Hydroponically cultivated basil exhibited greater resistance to downy mildew, but less resilience to heat and browning during storage and a shelf-life period, resulting in poorer storage and shelf-life performance as compared to soil-cultivated basil. The greater total antioxidant capacity of the hydroponically cultivated basil seems to be the major cause for the observed phenomena. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Fast-melting peaches have a shelf life of only 3-4 d due to their rapid softening, and this poses a problem in marketing and consumer acceptability. A postharvest 22 h treatment at 20 degrees C of low oxygen (<1%) or 2 mu l L-1 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) was applied to delay softening. 1-MCP was ineffective, but the anaerobic stress delayed softening as expressed by texture measurements, ethylene levels, and chlorophyll index values. Taste panels showed a preference for untreated fruit of the same firmness as treated fruit, probably due to off-flavors volatiles evaporation. Nevertheless, consumer acceptance of treated fruit was high after 3 d at 20 C and 4 d of cold storage, while control fruit was too soft to be sampled. Volatile compounds were analyzed on control and low oxygen-treated fruit following treatment and 48 h later. Forty-eight compounds were identified, and thirty-nine significantly differed among all four conditions. Eleven volatile compounds associated with anaerobic conditions increased in the low oxygen treatment after 72 h. However, the low oxygen treatment did not affect most ripening-related peach fruit volatiles, primarily lactones. It is hypothesized that these compounds dimin-ished the perception of off-flavors associated with the anaerobic volatiles. This simple low oxygen treatment demonstrates promising results in delaying softening and extending the market life of fast-ripening peaches.

BACKGROUND Terpene, eugenol and polyphenolic contents of basil are major determinants of quality, which is affected by genetics, weather, growing practices, pests and diseases. Here, we aimed to develop a simple predictive analytical method for determining the polyphenol, eugenol and terpene content of the leaves of major Israeli sweet basil cultivars grown hydroponically, as a function of harvest time, through the use of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, liquid/gas chromatography, and chemometric methods. We also wanted to identify the harvest time associated with the highest terpene, eugenol and polyphenol content. RESULTS Six different cultivars and four different harvest times were analyzed. Partial least square regression (PLS-R) analysis yielded an accurate, predictive model that explained more than 93% of the population variance for all of the analyzed compounds. The model yielded good/excellent prediction (R-2 > 0.90, R-cv(2) and R-pre(2) > 0.80) and very good residual predictive deviation (RPD > 2) for all of the analyzed compounds. Concentrations of rosmarinic acid, eugenol and terpenes increased steadily over the first 3 weeks, peaking in the fourth week in most of the cultivars. Our PLS-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model provided accurate harvest classification and prediction as compared to cultivar classification. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of harvest classification were larger than 0.82 for all harvest time points, whereas the cultivar classification, resulted in sensitivity values lower than 0.8 in three cultivars. CONCLUSION The PLS-R model provided good predictions of rosmarinic acid, eugenol and terpene content. Our NIR coupled with a PLS-DA demonstrated reasonable solution for harvest and cultivar classification. (c) 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Fruits can be divided into dry and fleshy types. Dry fruits mature through senescence and fleshy fruits through ripening. Previous studies have indicated that partially common molecular networks could govern fruit maturation in these different fruit types. However, the nature of such networks remains obscure. CLASS-II KNOX genes were shown to regulate the senescence of the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) dry fruits, the siliques, but their roles in fleshy-fruit development are unknown. Here, we investigated the roles of the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) CLASS-II KNOX (TKN-II) genes in fleshy fruit ripening using knockout alleles of individual genes and an artificial microRNA line (35S:amiR-TKN-II) simultaneously targeting all genes. 35S:amiR-TKN-II plants, as well as a subset of tkn-II single and double mutants, have smaller fruits. Strikingly, the 35S:amiR-TKN-II and tknII3 tknII7/+ fruits showed early ripening of the locular domain while their pericarp ripening was stalled. Further examination of the ripening marker-gene RIPENING INHIBITOR (RIN) expression and 35S:amiR-TKN-II rin-1 mutant fruits suggested that TKN-II genes arrest RIN activity at the locular domain and promote it in the pericarp. These findings imply that CLASS-II KNOX genes redundantly coordinate maturation in both dry and fleshy fruits. In tomato, these genes also control spatial patterns of fruit ripening, utilizing differential regulation of RIN activity at different fruit domains.

Cannabis sativa L. is used to treat a wide variety of medical conditions, in light of its beneficial pharmacological properties of its cannabinoids and terpenes. At present, the quantitative chemical analysis of these active compounds is achieved through the use of laborious, expensive, and time-consuming technologies, such as high-pressure liquid-chromatography- photodiode arrays, mass spectrometer detectors (HPLC-PDA or MS), or gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). Hence, we aimed to develop a simple, accurate, fast, and cheap technique for the quantification of major cannabinoids and terpenes using Fourier transform near infra-red spectroscopy (FT-NIRS). FT-NIRS was coupled with multivariate classification and regression models, namely partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and partial least squares regression (PLS-R) models. The PLS-DA model yielded an absolute major class separation (high-THC, high-CBD, hybrid, and high-CBG) and perfect class prediction. Using only three latent variables (LVs), the cross-validation and prediction model errors indicated a low probability of over-fitting the data. In addition, the PLS-DA model enabled the classification of chemovars with genetic-chemical similarities. The classification of high-THCA chemovars was more sensitive and more specific than the classifications of the remaining chemovars. The prediction of cannabinoid and terpene concentrations by PLS-R yielded 11 robust models with high predictive capabilities (R2CV and R2pred > 0.8, RPD >2.5 and RPIQ >3, RMSECV/RMSEC ratio <1.2) and additional 15 models whose performance was acceptable for initial screening purposes (R2CV > 0.7 and R2pred < 0.8, RPD >2 and RPIQ <3, 1.2 < RMSECV/RMSEC ratio <2). Our results confirm that there is sufficient information in the FT-NIRS to develop cannabinoid and terpene prediction models and major-cultivar classification models.

Cannabis is used to treat various medical conditions, and lines are commonly classified according to their total concentrations of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Based on their ratio of total THC to total CBD, cannabis cultivars are commonly classified into high-THC, high-CBD, and hybrid classes. While cultivars from the same class have similar compositions of major cannabinoids, their levels of other cannabinoids and their terpene compositions may differ substantially. Therefore, a more comprehensive and accurate classification of medicinal cannabis cultivars, based on a large number of cannabinoids and terpenes is needed. For this purpose, three different chemometric-based classification models were constructed using three sets of chemical profiles. We examined those models to determine which provides the most accurate "chemovar" classification. This was done by analyzing profiles of cannabinoids, terpenes, and the combination of these substances using the partial least square-discriminant analysis multivariate (PLS-DA) technique. The chemical profiles were selected from the three major classes of medicinal cannabis that are most commonly prescribed to patients in Israel: high-THC, high-cannabigerol (CBG), and hybrid. We studied the correlations between cannabinoids and terpenes to identify major bio-indicators representing the plant's terpene and cannabinoid content. All three PLS-DA models provided highly accurate classifications, utilizing six to nine latent variables with an overall accuracy ranging from 2 to 11% CV. The PLS-DA model applied to the combined cannabinoid-and-terpene profile did the best job of differentiating between the chemovars in terms of misclassification error, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. The combined cannabinoid-and-terpene PLS-DA profile had cross-validation and prediction misclassification errors of 4% and 0%, respectively. This is the first study to demonstrate the highly accurate classification of samples of medicinal cannabis based on their cannabinoid and terpene profiles, as compared to cannabinoid profiles alone. Furthermore, our correlation analysis indicated that 11 cannabinoids and terpenes might serve as bio-indicators for 32 different active compounds. These findings suggest that the use of multivariate statistics could assist in breeding studies and serve as a tool for minimizing the mislabeling of cannabis inflorescences.

For decades, heat treatments have been known to reduce or eliminate decay-causing agents and slow the physiological deterioration of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables. For years, fungicides and pesticides have been used to control fungi on freshly harvested fruits and vegetables. However, these chemicals can contaminate the environment and be hazardous to those who consume fresh produce. Therefore, heat treatments, lasting only minutes or up to several days, have been developed to control insects and pathogenic fungi on fresh produce after harvest. In the 1990s, hot water rinsing and brushing (HWRB) technology to clean and disinfect fresh produce at relatively high temperatures (50 to 62 °C) for seconds (12–20 s) was developed at the Volcani Institute in Israel. This technology has been improved over time and is currently used commercially on several crops in Israel and elsewhere. This article discusses the development of this prestorage technology, from 1996 to 2006, and describes the effects of HWRB on the internal and external characteristics of fruits and vegetables, as well as the possible mode of action of this technology, as examined in the literature published since 1996.

This work evaluated the efficacies of different coatings: chitosan, gelatin and chitosan-gelatin applied layer-by-layer (LbL); for maintaining the quality of sweet peppers that were stored for 3 weeks at a sub-optimal temperature (1.5 °C) and at an optimal storage temperature (7 °C). After the cold-storage period, fruits were kept under marketing conditions (21 °C) for 3 more days. An edible chitosan coating (2%) effectively alleviated chilling injury and the incidence of decay, and also preserved the nutritional quality of sweet peppers that were kept for 3 weeks at 1.5 °C plus 3 more days at 21 °C. The chitosan coating was more effective than the two other coatings. All three coating treatments significantly reduced external CO2 production, as compared to uncoated control fruit. Storage temperatures did not significantly affect external CO2 production, although CO2 production was slightly higher at 1.5 °C. The chitosan coating exhibited good CO2 gas permeability properties and the peppers coated with that material had lower respiration rates than those in the other two experimental treatments or the control. From a practical point of view, chitosan coating could replace the plastic bags previously found to alleviate chilling injury in peppers that are stored at 1.5 °C as a quarantine treatment.

Rapid and sensitive methods for the detection of pathogenic microorganisms are required to monitor contamination in milk and assure public health. A colorimetric antibody-based stack pad system (biosensor) was developed to detect microbiological content of milk based on nitrocellulose membranes. This modification of the lateral flow immunoassay uses a multiple-membrane biosensor containing (from top to bottom): a sample pad, a conjugation pad (with anti-Escherichia coli antibodies conjugated to horseradish peroxidase), six Escherichia coli strain DH5α bacteria-blocking layers and an absorption pad with dry substrate. Different milk samples were tested, with and without DH5α bacteria. This multistep diagnostic assay was up to 1000-fold more sensitive than the standard laboratory ELISA. This is the first step in the development of a simple and portable device for milk-safety monitoring during all processing stages, with the aim of ensuring fresh and healthy milk for consumption.

Yellow sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum L. cv. Dinamo) are generally more susceptible than red sweet peppers to physiological and pathological deterioration after harvest. Yellow peppers also fetch higher prices at market. In this study, we examined the external and nutritional quality attributes of yellow pepper fruits stored at suboptimal temperatures of 1.5 and 4 °C for 3 weeks, followed by a 3-day shelf-life simulation. Notably, yellow peppers kept in plastic (Xtend®, Stepac, Tefen, Israel) bags at 4 °C maintained their external quality just as well as peppers stored at the optimum temperature of 7 °C. In addition, nutrient content (namely ascorbic acid) and total phenolic and hydrophilic antioxidant contents were not reduced when the peppers were kept at suboptimal storage temperatures of 4 or 1.5 °C in Xtend® plastic packaging. Thus, the external and nutritional qualities of yellow pepper fruits can be preserved at suboptimal temperatures of 4 °C with Xtend® plastic packaging. This is particularly significant in light of the fact that storage at such temperatures is sometimes used as a quarantine method to eliminate pests on produce imported into Israel.

This study examined the effects of stem-pruning and fruit-thinning on the yield of marketable watermelon fruit (>5 kg) and watermelon quality after four days of postharvest storage at 22 °C (marketing simulation). We examined the fruits from non-grafted and grafted plants (TZ and Nurit rootstocks) for two consecutive years. Grafting increased the number of marketable fruit per m2. The weight of the average marketable fruit was increased by pruning, but was not affected by thinning or by the choice of rootstock. The level of total soluble solids was higher among fruits from Nurit rootstock. Flesh texture was improved by grafting, but was not affected by thinning or pruning. Thinning improved the taste of the fruit significantly better than stem-pruning did. Grafting (both rootstocks) was associated with crispier fruits. The fruits from Nurit-grafted plants tasted best. The combination of grafting + fruit-thinning increased the fruit lycopene content. The highest levels of vitamin C were found among the fruit from Nurit-grafted plants and the pruned + Nurit-grafted plants, in particular. Overall, fruit quality was affected mainly by grafting onto Nurit rootstock in combination with fruit-thinning and less by stem-pruning. However, not all internal and nutritional quality parameters were significantly affected by the grafting + fruit-thinning treatment.

Penicillium digitatum is a major postharvest pathogen in citrus fruit that causes losses in all citrus-growing countries. In this study, a new whole-cell-based biosensor was developed to detect the fungus' presence in oranges. The approach was based on bacteria's luminescent responses to changes in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) following infection by a pathogenic microorganism in oranges. Differences between VOC patterns in the infected and noninfected fruit were monitored by GC-MS and then with four different genetically modified bioluminescent bacterial strains. GC-MS detected the changes in emitted VOC patterns during the first infection steps. Bioreporter strains allowed pathogen detection on the third day of infection, before the appearance of visible signs of fungal infection on the surface of the orange. Thanks to their increased sensitivity, portability and ease of use, whole-cell biosensors may serve as a new tool for monitoring rot. In the future, such technology will reduce food losses by enabling more efficient crop management throughout postharvest treatment, storage and transport.

The aim of this research was to evaluate postharvest cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum (L.) Mill.) yield and fruit quality as affected by grafting and irrigation water quality in the desert region of Israel. Tomato plants (scion cv. Lorka) were grafted onto 3 commercial tomato rootstocks (Resistar, Beaufort and TRS2) and were irrigated with 2 water qualities: fresh water (electrical conductivity (EC)-1.6 dS m−1) and salty water (EC-4.0 dS m−1). Fresh water significantly increased fruit yield by an average of 17% and fruit size, regardless of plant grafting and rootstock, but there were no significant differences in fruit size between the water treatments. However, salty water, but not grafting, significantly improved several quality parameters of fruit stored for 12 d at 12 °C followed by 2 d at 20 °C in simulated sea transport of produce from Israel to Europe and marketing. Fruit harvested from plants irrigated with salty water showed higher sweetness, sourness and, especially, better general taste, and significantly reduced off-flavor, compared with those irrigated with fresh water. The combination of ‘Lorka’ on ‘Resistar’ rootstock and resulted in the best external, internal, and sensory quality parameters at the end of storability and marketing simulation, while the lowest-quality parameters were in fruit harvested from ‘Lorka’ on ‘Beaufort’ rootstock.

Grafting of vegetable plants is done primarily to reduce the potential for damage caused by soil-borne diseases. Most of the watermelons (Citrullus) grown in the Mediterranean Basin, including in Israel, are grafted, mainly on interspecific hybrid pumpkin (Cucurbita) rootstocks. Biblical law (Leviticus 19:19) does not allow intergeneric grafting, so in recent years, great efforts have been made in Israel to find or breed watermelon rootstocks. Both interspecific and intergeneric grafting can have negative or positive effects on fruit yield and quality after harvest. The inconsistencies in fruit quality and shelf-life parameters can be attributed to differences in production environments. However, many farmers are grafting and planting the same rootstock-scion combination all over the country, regardless of local soil, water, and climactic conditions. We studied the effect of similar rootstock-scion combinations on watermelon yield and fruit quality in three regions of Israel differing in soil type and altitude. Fruit-quality parameters were evaluated after 4 days at 21 °C (local marketing simulation). Fruit quality was significantly affected, mainly by the growing region, based on factorial analysis, but also by rootstock-scion combination, regardless of rootstock vigor. Therefore, the best rootstock-scion combination needs to be found and adopted for each growing region. Grafting was essential for watermelon crop survival in contaminated soils and improved both plant performance and postharvest fruit quality, but was not a factor in non-contaminated soils.

There are gaps in our knowledge of the effects of irrigation water quality and amount on yield and postharvest quality of pepper fruit (Capsicum annuum L.). We studied the effects of water quality and quantity treatments on pepper fruits during subsequent simulated storage and shelf-life. Total yield decreased with increasing water salinity, but export-quality yield was not significantly different in fruits irrigated with water of either 1.6 or 2.8 dS/m, but there was a 30–35% reduction in export-quality yield following use of water at 4.5 dS/m. Water quantity hardly affected either total or export-quality yield. Water quality but not quantity significantly affected fruit weight loss after 14 days at 7 °C plus three days at 20 °C; irrigation with water at 2.8 dS/m gave the least weight loss. Fruits were significantly firmer after irrigation with good-quality water than with salty water. The saltier the water, the higher was the sugar content. Vitamin C content was not affected by water quality or quantity, but water quality significantly affected antioxidant (AOX) content. The highest AOX activity was found with commercial quality water, the lowest with salty water. Pepper yield benefited by irrigation with fresh water (1.6 dS/m) and was not affected by water quantity, but post-storage fruit quality was maintained better after use of moderately-saline water (2.8 dS/m). Thus, irrigation water with salinity not exceeding 2.8 dS/m will not impair postharvest quality, although the yield will be reduced at this salinity level.