Low‐temperature conditioning combined with methyl jasmonate treatment reduces chilling injury of peach fruit

Abstract

Abstract BACKGROUND: Peaches are sensitive to low temperature and develop chilling injury (CI) symptoms during refrigerated storage. This CI reduces consumer acceptance of peaches and limits the potential postharvest market life of the fruit. To develop a suitable technique to reduce CI, the effect of a combination of low‐temperature conditioning (LTC) and methyl jasmonate (MJ) treatment on CI of peach fruit was investigated in this study. RESULTS: Freshly harvested firm‐mature peaches were treated with a combination of LTC at 10 or 20 °C and 1 µmol L −1 MJ and then stored at 0 °C for 5 weeks. The fruits developed CI during storage, manifested as internal browning and flesh mealiness. The combined treatment significantly reduced these CI symptoms and maintained higher fruit quality. The activities of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase were significantly inhibited while those of superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase were induced by the combined treatment. In addition, the activities of phenylalanine ammonia‐lyase and polygalacturonase and the level of total phenolics were enhanced by the combined treatment. CONCLUSION: The combination of LTC and MJ treatment could be a useful technique to reduce CI and maintain quality in peach fruit during cold storage. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry