Lipid remodeling During Post-harvest storage of seedless oil palm Fruits: Insights from multi-omics analysis

To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying lipid metabolism during post-harvest storage, we conducted integrated transcriptomic and lipidomic analyses of seedless oil palm fruits at three post-harvest time points as treatment 0 h (CH1), 24 h (CH2), and 36 h (CH3). Using LC-MS/MS and RNA-Seq, dynamic changes in lipid profiles and gene expression patterns were identified. A total of 518 lipid species were characterized, spanning 5 major classes and 26 subclasses. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that lipid remodeling was predominantly associated with glycerolipid metabolism, α-Linolenic acid metabolism, GPI-anchor biosynthesis, arachidonic acid metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, fatty acid degradation, and cutin, suberine, and wax biosynthesis. Integrative omics analysis highlighted key regulatory genes influencing lipid dynamics. ALDH2, PTL, and NPC4 exhibited significant positive correlations with diglycerol, eicosenoic acid and lauric acid, but negative correlation with phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. Conversely, CYP86B1, GDPDs1 and PLAs were strongly associated with increased diglycerides, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, while negatively correlated with eicosenoic acid, arachidic acid and lauric acid. These findings suggest that ALDH2 and PTL may promote glycerolipid and fatty acyl synthesis while suppressing glycerophospholipid production. This study provides novel insights into the molecular basis of lipid metabolism in seedless oil palm fruits during storage and offers valuable targets for enhancing fruit quality and post-harvest management strategies. • Integrated analyses reveal lipid remodeling during post-harvest storage. • Storage modulates glycerolipid, fatty acid, and phospholipid pathways. • Findings offer molecular targets to enhance post-harvest oil quality.