Melatonin and methyl jasmonate inhibited the chilling injury of postharvest pitaya fruit after cold storage by regulating the antioxidant system

ABSTRACT Chilling injury (CI) is the main physiological disease caused shelf decay of pitaya fruit after low‐temperature storage. To find ways to control the chilling injury of pitaya fruit, we conducted the effects of postharvest treatment with 1.0 mmol L −1 melatonin (MT) and 0.1 mmol L −1 methyl jasmonate (MeJA) on the chilling injury of pitaya vs Zihonglong at 3 days of shelf life after storage at 2 ± 0.5°C. The results showed that both MeJA and MT promote the accumulation of antioxidants and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism, and inhibit the respiration rate and ethylene release rate, thereby reducing the incidence of chilling injury after cold storage, keeping the shelf quality of pitaya fruit and prolonging the shelf life of pitaya fruit. In summary, postharvest MeJA or MT inhibited the chilling injury of pitaya fruit by regulating the antioxidant system.