Optimal hypobaric treatment delays ripening of honey peach fruit via increasing endogenous energy status and enhancing antioxidant defence systems during storage

• 10–20 kPa was optimal for maintaining honey peach fruit quality and extending shelf-life.
• 10–20 kPa combined with low temperature delayed decay rates and maintained quality.
• 10–20 kPa reduced ROS production and enhanced antioxidative enzyme activities.
• Also 10–20 kPa increased energy status and alleviated membrane damage.

Honey peach (Prunus persica) fruit is highly perishable and rapidly loses quality after harvest. Postharvest hypobaric treatment is a potential new technique to delay fruit ripening and quality deterioration in fruit. Honey peach fruit were stored under four different pressure conditions (101, 10–20, 40–50 and 70–80 kPa) for 30 days at 0 °C and at 85–90% RH. The fruit were then observed for 4 days at 25 °C and 80–85% RH. Decay index, content of total soluble solids (TSS), ascorbic acid, malondialdehyde (MDA), membrane permeability, H2O2 content, superoxide anion (O2−) production rate, activities of lipoxygenase (LOX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) and contents of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine monophosphate (AMP) were measured. Results indicated that hypobaric treatment at 10–20 kPa delayed decay rates and maintained overall quality, and extended the shelf-life of honey peach fruit. Furthermore, the application of 10–20 kPa treatment effectively delayed increases in both O2− production rate and H2O2 content, enhanced activities of CAT and SOD and increased contents of ATP and ADP while reducing LOX activity and AMP content during low temperature storage and the following shelf-life at room temperature. These data indicated that the shelf-life extension of honey peach by hypobaric treatment could be due to increased energy status, enhanced antioxidant ability and less membrane damage. The relationships of ATP content with membrane damage, radical oxygen species (ROS) production and antioxidant enzyme activities is discussed.