Impact of Postharvest Calcium Treatments on Storage Life, Biochemical Attributes and Chilling Injury of Apric ot

Abstract

Fruits of two apricot ( Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars ‘Bagheri’ and ‘Asgarabadi’ were treated with 1 or 3% of Calcium Chloride (CaCl 2 ) or Calcium propionate (Ca pro) and stored at 1°C, 90% RH for 21 days (d). Fruits were s ampled weekly and stored for 2 days at 20°C for shelf life study. Chilling Injury (CI), firmness, color, Titratable Acidity (TA), Soluble Solid Content (SSC), fruit calcium concentr ations, Pectin MethylEsterase (PME) enzyme activity and pectin content were monitored d uring the storage period. CI was first detected in the control fruit after 7 days, and inc idence and severity of CI in control fruit was higher than in calcium treated fruit after 14 d ays. Calcium treatments increased fruit calcium concentrations and delayed ethylene product ion, as well as softening and color changes. PME activity and water-insoluble pectin de creased while water-soluble pectin increased during fruit storage. Higher calcium conc entrations may help to maintain fruit quality by alleviating CI incidence and inhibiting ripening in fruit stored at low temperature. Keywords: Cell wall, Pectin Methyl Esterase (PME), Postharves t, Storage disorder