Citric acid treatment reduces decay and maintains the postharvest quality of peach (Prunus persica L.) fruit.

Can Yang,Dong Chen,Tao Chen,Haiyan Song,Shuxia Sun,Wanpeng Xi,Borui Shen

doi:10.1002/fsn3.1219

Abstract

Peaches are easily perishable fruit, and their quality is quickly lost after harvest. In this study, “Hujingmilu” peach (Prunus persica L.) fruit was treated with citric acid (CA) and stored at 20°C for 15 days. Fruit decay and quality were evaluated during the storage period. Compared with the control, CA treatment did not inhibit climacteric ethylene release, but CA was significantly effective at maintaining firmness, inhibiting decay, and preventing a decrease in titration acid (TA). CA treatment inhibited the increase in total soluble solids (TSS), sucrose, and fructose in the first week after fruit harvest, but then their content was significantly higher in CA‐treated fruits than that in the control group. The decrease in malic acid and citric acid was significantly prevented by CA treatment. During storage, the concentrations of C6 volatile compounds decreased rapidly whereas lactones sharply increased, and the concentrations of δ‐decalactone, γ‐decalactone, and γ‐dodecalactone were found to be significantly high in CA fruits compared with the control after the eighth day of storage (p < .05). Similarly, higher contents of chlorogenic acid, neochlorogenic acid, catechin, and L‐epicatechin were maintained in fruits treated with CA during the same storage period (p < .05). Our findings suggest that treatment with 10 g/L citric acid can reduce postharvest decay and effectively maintain the texture, flavor, and nutrition quality of peach fruit.

Highlights

Peach (Prunus persica L.) is one of the most commercially important Rosaceae trees cultivated widely in the world, with total production of 19 million tons approximately (FAO, http://www.fao.org/faostat/ en/#data/QC)
We aimed to investigate the effect of citric acid treatment on fruit decay incidence, fruit firmness, and ethylene release from peach fruit, with emphasis on developing a novel strategy for improving the postharvest storability of important phytochemical‐related fruit flavor and nutrition quality, including soluble sugars, organic acids, aroma volatiles, and the main phenolics
Our findings suggest that citric acid can provide an effective approach to extend the shelf life and maintain the postharvest quality of peach fruit

Summary

Introduction

Peach (Prunus persica L.) is one of the most commercially important Rosaceae trees cultivated widely in the world, with total production of 19 million tons approximately (FAO, http://www.fao.org/faostat/ en/#data/QC). As a typical climacteric fruit, peaches will undergo undesirable changes in texture, flavor, and nutrition quality after harvest, resulting in rapid softening, water and flavor loss, flesh browning, and rotting, and lose their commercial value (Lurie & Crisosto, 2005). Peaches are extremely perishable after harvest; the shelf life of peach fruit is generally only 5–7 days at ambient temperature. It is estimated that the postharvest loss of peach fruit accounts for 30% ‐ 40% of total production (Hodges, Buzby, & Bennett, 2011). These problems will cause serious economic losses and become one of the key issues that restrict the sustainable development of the peach industry.

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