Effect of postharvest oxalic acid treatment on ethylene production, quality parameters, and antioxidant potential of peach fruit during cold storage.

Subject Areas : Phytochemistry

Farhang Razavi ¹ , Jafar Hajilou ² , Gholamreza Dehgan ³ , Rahim Nagshi Band Hassani ⁴

1 - Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran
2 - Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
3 - Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural Science, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
4 - Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Received: 2017-07-29 Accepted : 2017-07-29 Published : 2017-01-01

Keywords: postharvest, Quality attributes, phenol, Oxalic acid, Prunus persica L, Antioxidant enzymes,

Abstract :

The effects of postharvest oxalic acid (OA) treatment on ethylene production, fruit quality, bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of peach fruit, were examined. Fruits were treated with oxalic acid immediately after harvest and stored at 1° C and 90% relative humidity for 28 days. The oxalic acid treated peach fruit exhibited significantly lower levels of ethylene production, pH, total soluble solids and weight loss and higher levels of firmness and titratable acidity than control. Also, OA treated fruit exhibited significantly higher total antioxidant capacity, which resulted from higher total phenols and flavonoids accumulation. During storage, activity of peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase enzymes increased in both control and treated peaches, and peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities in OA treated fruit were significantly greater than those in control. But, there was no significant difference in catalase activity between OA treated and control fruit. Results suggested that OA treatments could be a promising strategy to delay softening and enhance the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of peaches.