Novel Targets for Fruit Conservation Strategies Revealed by Omics Studies: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Fresh fruit is an important dietary source of nutrients and health-related compounds, also contributing to food security and economic development worldwide. Postharvest losses exert a huge negative impact on fruit quality, consumers' acceptance, economic value, and market availability. High-throughput techniques have contributed to elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying fruit ripening and senescence. However, the application of these findings to develop conservation technologies remains scarce. The current systematic review is aimed at evaluating the literature on omics studies for sensory properties, shelf-life duration, microbiological and physiological quality outcomes during fruit ripening, postharvest conservation, and ex planta senescence. Four databases were investigated from 2014 to 2025, and data from 171 studies were compiled, converted to Gene Ontology terms, and analyzed using multivariate methods. The results reinforced the key role of phytohormones in climacteric and nonclimacteric fruit conservation. Ethylene and abscisic acid-controlled processes are the main contributors to senescence in climacteric and nonclimacteric fruit, respectively. Among the outcomes investigated, most omics studies assessed the effects of conservation technologies on fruit quality and sensory properties. After harvest, carbohydrate and reactive oxygen metabolic pathways are important contributors to conservation strategies. Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation and histones posttranslational changes, are promising targets for novel conservation techniques. Further research on the impact of conservation technologies on fruit genomic, transcriptional, and metabolic changes may contribute to devising novel, paradigm-changing postharvest alternatives.