Evaluation of the Effect of Postharvest Salicylic Acid and Calcium Chloride Treatment on the Quality and Storage Life of Nectarine Fruit (Prunus persica L. Batsch)

The purpose of this study was to estimate the effects of post-harvest calcium chloride (CaCl2) or salicylic acid (SA) treatments on the physicochemical traits and storage life of nectarine fruit (Prunus persica L. Batsch) stored at 1 °C in a normal atmosphere for 45 days after harvesting. Fruit was dipped in deionized water (control), in 0.5, 1, or 2% CaCl2, or in 0.5, 1, or 2 mM SA for 5 min. Some important traits such as fresh weight, total soluble solids (TSS) contents, cell membrane stability, titratable acidity (TA), vitamin C, total phenolics, anthocyanin content, and anti-oxidant activity were determined 0, 14, 30, and 45 days after each treatment. Relative fresh weight, anthocyanin, carotenoid, vitamin C content, and antioxidant capacity were improved with 2 mM SA treatments. Fruit treated with 2% CaCl2 exhibited the highest cell membrane stability index, firmness of fruit tissue, TSS, and phenol content during the storage period. At the end of the storage period, the lowest fresh weight loss and TA were observed in the 2 mM (SA) and 2% CaCl2, respectively. This experiment revealed that post-harvest treatment with SA or CaCl2 prolonged the storage life and preserved the valuable marketing characteristics of nectarine fruit, presumably because of their inhibitory impacts on fruit softening, ripening, and senescence. Over the cold storage, 2% CaCl2 was found to be the best treatment to maintain fruit quality in terms of postharvest life with 52.5 days.