1-Methylcyclopropene alleviates chilling injury by regulating energy metabolism and fatty acid content in ‘Nanguo’ pears

•Energy metabolism may be involved in the development of CI in pear fruit.•1-MCP treatment of pear fruit alleviated chilling injury.•1-MCP could reduce CI development due to maintenance of higher level of energy charge.•1-MCP treated fruit had higher unsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio.•1-MCP alleviated CI by inducing enzyme activity related to energy metabolism

This study investigated the effects of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment on chilling injury (CI), energy metabolism, and membrane fatty acid content in harvested ‘Nanguo’ pears during the shelf life after cold storage at 0 °C. 1-MCP treated fruit showed slower CI injury development, lower ion leakage and malondialdehyde accumulation, increased adenosine triphosphate content and energy charge during a 25 day shelf life period at 20 °C. Activities of enzymes associated with energy metabolism, including H+-adenosine triphosphatase, Ca2+-adenosine triphosphatase, succinic dehydrogenase, and cytochrome C oxidase increased after 1-MCP treatment. The ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids in 1-MCP-treated fruit was higher than that in control fruit. These results suggest that alleviation of CI after 1-MCP treatment might be due to enhanced energy metabolism-related enzyme activities and higher levels of energy and unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio.