Postharvest hexanal application delays senescence and maintains quality in persimmon fruit during low‐temperature storage

Abstract

AbstractBACKGROUNDPersimmon (Diospyros kaki L.) fruit is characterized by rapid metabolic changes following ripening, and softening occurs due to the gradual breakdown of the cell membrane by direct catabolic cascades of phospholipase D enzyme on the phospholipid bilayer. Cell membrane weakening is also enhanced by the generation of reactive oxygen species during stress conditions such as cold storage and postharvest handling. This research evaluated the postharvest hexanal dipping application on persimmon fruit storage quality.RESULTSThe response of ‘MKÜ Harbiye’ persimmon fruit to exogenous hexanal at different concentrations (0.04% and 0.08%, named as HEX‐I and HEX‐II, respectively) on quality parameters, chilling injury (CI), microbial growth, antioxidant compounds and free radical scavenging capacity (FRSC) during storage at 0 °C and 80–90 ± 5% relative humidity for 120 days were evaluated. Both hexanal treatments retained quality and delayed senescence, as indicated by greener peel (lower a* and L* values), higher firmness, total phenol concentration, FRSC and titratable acidity, but lower weight loss, electrical conductivity, rate of CO2, ethylene production, decay and microbial growth than the control. Total soluble solids were lower in treated fruit than the control up to 100 days, and were much lower in HEX‐I treatment as compared to HEX‐II treatment. HEX‐I treatment exhibited lower CI than the other treatments during storage.CONCLUSIONHexanal at 0.04% could be used to increase the storage period of ‘MKÜ Harbiye’ persimmon fruit up to 120 days at 0 °C and 80–90 ± 5% relative humidity by retaining quality and delaying senescence. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.