Effects of 2-butanol on quality and physiological characteristics of longan fruit stored at ambient temperature

• Effects of the PLD inhibitor 2-butanol on harvested longan fruit were investigated.
• The 0.05% 2-butanol treatment had the most positive effects on longan quality.
• 2-Butanol was helpful in maintaining overall postharvest quality of longan fruit.

Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) is a fruit with a limited postharvest life. In the present study, 2-butanol (a phospholipase D inhibitor) at different concentrations (0.05%, 0.10% and 0.15%) were applied postharvest to longan fruit stored at ambient temperature (25 °C), and their effects on fruit quality and physiological characteristics were investigated. The results showed that the 0.05% 2-butanol treatment had the most positive effects on fruit quality, with treated fruit showing a significant delay in changes in weight, titratable acidity content and total soluble solids content by day 8. The 0.05% 2-butanol treated fruit had the lowest rate of pericarp moisture loss on day 8 and a significantly lower browning index than the control on day 6. It also maintained higher ascorbic acid contents than in the control from day 2. This treatment maintained high contents of phenolics and flavonoids during 8 days storage, and inhibited browning, pulp breakdown and respiration. These results indicate that the phospholipase D inhibitor 2-butanol could be helpful in postharvest quality maintenance of longan fruit.