Effects of Pre-harvest Salicylic Acid Treatment on the Post-harvest Quality of Peach Cultivar Robin

Abstract

Peach is one of the most important horticultural crops and its storage and postharvest issues are increasingly taken into consideration. This experiment was conducted to the assessment of salicylic acid spray at 0, 1, 2, and 4 mmol concentrations, and salicylic acid submergence in 2 mmol concentration on the post-harvest quality of peach cultivar Robin, and the measurement in the four storage times in 2014-2015. In this experiment, the weight loss, volume decrease, length decrease, diameter decrease, pH, total acidity, total soluble solids, vitamin c, antioxidant capacity, total phenol, total flavonoid, and fruit Peach is one of the most important horticultural crops and its storage and postharvest issues are increasingly taken into consideration. This experiment was conducted to the assessment of salicylic acid spray at 0, 1, 2, and 4 mmol concentrations, and salicylic acid submergence in 2 mmol concentration on the post-harvest quality of peach cultivar Robin, and the measurement in the four storage times in 2014-2015. In this experiment, the weight loss, volume decrease, length decrease, diameter decrease, pH, total acidity, total soluble solids, vitamin c, antioxidant capacity, total phenol, total flavonoid, and fruit firmness were measured. The results suggested that the salicylic acid treatment caused the inhibition of the weight losses, volume decrease, length decrease, and diameter decrease over the storage period and maintained the fruit firmness. The best result obtained from 2 mmol spray of salicylic acid before harvest. The lowest total soluble solids and pH were observed in 2 mmol salicylic acid spray in all the storage times, while in the other treatments such as control, their contents increased. The results also demonstrated that the highest vitamin C content was in 2 and 4 mmol salicylic acid spray and 2 mmol salicylic acid submergence treatment, and the highest total phenol content resulted from 15 days after storing in all the salicylic acid treatments. The treatment of salicylic acid did not have much effect on the total flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity. Among all the treatments, the spray of 2 mmol salicylic acid, two weeks before the fruit harvest, revealed the best result and can be considered in the enhancement of peach postharvest shelf life.