Effects of a feasible 1-methylcyclopropene postharvest treatment on senescence and quality maintenance of harvested Huanghua pears during storage at ambient temperature

The effects of paper containing 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on senescence and quality of harvested Huanghua pears during storage at (25 ± 1) °C and 90% relative humidity were investigated. As compared to the control fruit, the fruit treated with different doses (0.45, 0.9 or 1.35 μL/L) of 1-MCP displayed the decreased rates of respiration and ethylene production, had lower cellular membrane relative leakage rate and lower weight loss, maintained higher value of hue angle (h°) in fruit surface and had less change of color in peel, had higher content of chlorophyll in peel and higher content of titratable acidity in pulp, and kept higher fruit firmness. Among the different doses of 1-MCP treatment, the fruit treated with 0.9 μL/L 1-MCP for 12 h exhibited the most effectiveness for increasing storability and delaying senescence, which maintained higher activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase, higher contents of ascorbic acid and glutathione, had lower rate of superoxide anion production and lower malondialdehyde content. The postharvest treatment with paper containing 1-MCP at 0.9 μL/L for 12 h could effectively delay fruit senescence, maintain higher quality and exhibit better storage behavior which might suggest a feasible technique for keeping quality of harvested Huanghua pears.