Maintenance of Physicochemical Qualities of Nectarine Fruits During Cold Storage Using Ultrasonic Treatment with Salicylic Acid

This study was carried out to retain the high quality of nectarine cv. ‘Venus’ fruits during the cold storage. In the study, fruits were treated with ultrasonic and salicylic acid (1 and 2 mM) separately or in combination as well as water in control and then, they were stored at 0°C and 90±5% relative humidity for 60 days. Fruits were examined for weight loss, fruit firmness, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, total flavonoids, total phenolics, antioxidant content and chilling injury at 15 days intervals. The results showed that no significant differences were observed among control and ultrasonic alone treatments in the experiment. However, salicylic acid combined with ultrasonic treatment has more potential than salicylic acid alone in regulation of nectarine fruit ripening. Moreover, combination treatments, in comparison to the control, led to better preservation of firmness, ascorbic acid, total phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant contents, more weight loss control, alleviating the chilling injury symptoms. Synergistic effects between salicylic acid and ultrasonic treatment were observed and the most effective treatment for preserving the quality of nectarine fruits was the combination of 2 mM salicylic acid with ultrasonic treatment. These results demonstrated that the combined treatments of salicylic acid and ultrasonic could provide a useful means of extending nectarine postharvest life during cold storage.