Postharvest Treatment of 'Florida Prince' Peaches with a Calcium Nanoparticle-Ascorbic Acid Mixture during Cold Storage and Its Effect on Antioxidant Enzyme Activities

Chilling injury (CI) is a physiological disorder resulting from low storage temperatures that affects the fruit quality and marketing of the 'Florida Prince' peach. In this study, the exogenous application of a mixture of calcium nanoparticles (CaNPs) and ascorbic acid was found to significantly alleviate the symptoms of CI in peaches during cold storage. Fruits were treated with CaNPs plus different concentrations of ascorbic acid (AA; 0, 3, 6, and 9 mM). Peaches were immersed in CaNP-AA for 15 min before being stored at 4 & PLUSMN; 1 & DEG;C and 95 & PLUSMN; 1% RH for 30 days. We observed that the 9 mM CaNP-AA treatment lowered the values for the CI index, ion leakage, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content and increased antioxidant enzyme activities (AEAs), such as for ascorbate oxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione reductase (GR). Furthermore, the treatment reduced the accumulation of both H2O2 and O-2(& BULL;-) and increased the level of DPPH reduction throughout the duration of cold storage. Our results suggest that 9 mM CaNP-AA treatment suppresses the incidence of CI in peach fruit throughout cold storage, possibly because 9 mM CaNP-AA is at least partly involved in enhancing the antioxidant system via its effect on antioxidant substances. The results indicate that applying the 9 mM CaNP-AA treatment afforded peaches with enhanced tolerance against cold storage stress.

Automated summary

The study showed that the exogenous application of a mixture of calcium nanoparticles and ascorbic acid can effectively alleviate chilling injury in peaches during cold storage by enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities and reducing oxidative damage. Specifically, the treatment with 9 mM CaNP-AA lowered the CI index, ion leakage, and MDA content, while increasing antioxidant enzyme activities. This treatment also reduced the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and increased DPPH reduction, thus enhancing the fruit's tolerance against cold storage stress.