Pre‐storage application of L‐arginine mitigates chilling injury and maintains quality of Sandhuri guava fruit

Abstract

Guava being highly chilling sensitive fruit exhibits limited storability. In two separate studies, guava cv. Sandhuri fruit treated with L-arginine (0, 1, 2, or 3 mM) were kept at either 10 ± 1°C with 90 ± 5% RH (Study-1) and 5 ± 1°C with 90 ± 5% RH (Study-2). Results indicated that application of 1 mM arginine was effective for maintaining higher firmness (16.17 N), total soluble solids (4.9°Brix), carotenoids (3.01 mg 100 ml−1 FW) at 10°C. However, no signs of chilling injury (CI) were observed in guava when stored at 10°C. During study-2, application of 1 mM arginine to guava fruit significantly retained higher fruit firmness (29 N), marketability (58.3%), anthocyanins (0.13 ∆A g−1 FW), phenolic contents (647 mg GAE 100 g−1 FW) with reduced CI during storage at 5°C than control. Conclusively, the application of 1 mM arginine enhanced chilling tolerance and maintained the quality of guava fruit kept at 5°C for 24 days. Practical applications The major constraint of guava industry is short postharvest life which limits long-term storage and distant marketing. Cold storage of guava at low temperature causes chilling injury and reduces fruit quality. Present work identified that pre-storage application of L-arginine (1 mM) helpful for mitigating chilling injury and maintaining fruit quality at low storage temperature (5°C). The technology can be implemented in the guava industry for long storage and transport to distant markets.