Chilling injury and phytochemical composition of peach fruits as affected by high carbon dioxide treatment before cold storage

A chilling-sensitive peach (Prunus persica ‘Mibaekdo’) was pre-treated with 30% CO2, stored at 7°C for 4 weeks, followed by 3 days of subsequent ripening at room temperature. Significant reductions in both chilling injuries and softening were observed during the cold storage and also the subsequent ripening period. The high CO2 pre-treatment inhibited the decreases of antioxidant activity and the total phenolics. The beneficial effects of high CO2 were clearly apparent after three days at room temperature after cold storage, and the CO2 treatment had a strong effect on the high phytochemical content in peaches. Our results indicated that high levels of antioxidant activity, total phenolics, and ascorbic acid in the CO2-treated peach fruits might be directly responsible for reducing chilling injury in peach fruits under a high CO2 condition, which efficiently protects cells from free radicals induced by chilling stress.