Title: Effect of postharvest silicon application on phenolic content and antioxidant activity of apricot (prunus armeniaca) fruits

Authors: Ghader Habibi

Addresses: Department of Biology, Payame Noor University, P.O. Box 19395-3697 Tehran, Iran

Abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of silicon (Si) application to increase the pool of phenols and antioxidant activity in apricot (prunus armeniaca var Ghorban-e-Maragheh) fruits stored at 0°C for 35 days. Exogenous Si (5 g/L) pre-treatment significantly decreased fruit mass loss (%) and decay of fruit compared with the control. Postharvest Si application raised phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity and total phenolic, reduced hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde content because of an enhancement of catalase activity, and led to increase the fruits ability to better withstand stressful cold impacts. Therefore, Si may be recommended for increasing storage life and maintaining fruit quality.

Keywords: apricots; catalase; phenylalanine ammonia-lyase; silicate; total phenol; postharvest silicon application; phenolic content; antioxidant activity; prunus armeniaca; fruit storage; hydrogen peroxide; malondialdehyde content; fruit quality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPTI.2015.072448

International Journal of Postharvest Technology and Innovation, 2015 Vol.5 No.1, pp.42 - 51

Received: 29 Oct 2014
Accepted: 23 May 2015

Published online: 13 Oct 2015 *

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