The effects of post-harvest salicylic acid treatment on the fruit quality of quince cv. eşme during storage

In climacteric fruits, including quince, ripening metabolism is greatly influenced by ethylene biosynthesis. In these fruits, ethylene synthesis increases significantly during ripening. Treatments to suppress ethylene synthesis also slow down the ripening and senescence processes in fruits, thereby slowing down postharvest quality losses. Salicylic acid (SA) is known to suppress ethylene biosynthesis, reduce/eliminate decay rate and prevent fruit flesh browning during fruit storage. In this study, quality changes in fruits and flesh browning during storage were investigated by postharvest SA treatment (0, 1 and 2 mM) to quince cv. Eşme. After treatments, the fruit were stored for 180 days under normal atmosphere (NA) conditions with 0±1°C and 90±5 % relative humidity. For the shelf life studies, the fruit removed from the cold room during each analysis period were kept at 20°C and 60±5 % relative humidity for 7 days. It was determined that SA treatments had positive effects on the investigated some quality parameters (especially fruit flesh firmness, weight loss, ethylene production and respiration rate) compared to the control treatment. It was observed that especially 1 mM SA treatment reduced fruit flesh browning, fruit skin browning and chilling injury. However, since the effects of SA treatments can change depending on the species and cultivar, it is thought that the studies to be carried out with different cultivars and doses should be increased.