Effect of a combination of nitric oxide treatment and intermittent warming on prevention of chilling injury of ‘Feicheng’ peach fruit during storage

Effects of fumigation with 15 μl l⁻¹ of nitric oxide gas (NO), intermittent warming (IW) and a combination of NO and IW (NO + IW) in preventing chilling injury of ‘Feicheng’ peaches were investigated. Chilling injury index, firmness, ethylene production, cell wall fractions and cell wall metabolism-associated enzymes were evaluated. These results indicated that three treatments significantly prevented the mealiness of ‘Feicheng’ peaches. Further, NO fumigation could counteract the side effect of IW. Trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane – N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid (CDTA)-soluble fractions in control peaches significantly increased, but maintained lower contents in the three treatments. IW obviously increased the activity of polygalacturonase (PG) and endo-1,4-glucanase. NO fumigation preserved lower PG activity in early 20 days of storage, and endo-PG activity was significantly higher than that of control peaches during the later storage time. Exo-PG and endo-PG activity of the fruits treated with NO + IW was midway between those single treatments with NO and IW.