Impact of Postharvest Calcium Treatments on Storage Life, Biochemical Attributes and Chilling Injury of Apricot

Fruits of two apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars ‘Bagheri’ and ‘Asgarabadi’ were treated with 1 or 3% of Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) or Calcium propionate (Ca pro) and stored at 1°C, 90% RH for 21 days (d). Fruits were sampled weekly and stored for 2 days at 20°C for shelf life study. Chilling Injury (CI), firmness, color, Titratable Acidity (TA), Soluble Solid Content (SSC), fruit calcium concentrations, Pectin MethylEsterase (PME) enzyme activity and pectin content were monitored during the storage period. CI was first detected in the control fruit after 7 days, and incidence and severity of CI in control fruit was higher than in calcium treated fruit after 14 days. Calcium treatments increased fruit calcium concentrations and delayed ethylene production, as well as softening and color changes. PME activity and water-insoluble pectin decreased while water-soluble pectin increased during fruit storage. Higher calcium concentrations may help to maintain fruit quality by alleviating CI incidence and inhibiting ripening in fruit stored at low temperature.