Evaluating fruit quality of pear varieties with different textures after diverse cold-storage times

Cold-storage is a widely-used technique for effectively maintaining pear quality. In this study, ultraperformance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was employed to determine sugar and organic acid components in pears of different textures after different cold-storage times, while texture analyzer was adopted to assess the texture traits of pear fruits. Different cold-storage times affected the quality of fruits from different pear varieties, whereas extended cold-storage led to quality deterioration. After cold-storage, the difference in sucrose between soft-flesh pears and crispy-flesh pears decreased and eventually faded with extended storage. Based on principal component analysis (PCA), Nanguoli, Jingbaili, Ruanerli, Korla pear, Chili and Yali achieved the highest fruit quality after 2 months of cold-storage, while Dangshan Suli and Shuihongxiao peaked after 4 months. This work provides a better strategy for determining suitable cold-storage time and shelf-life for pear varieties by comprehensively considering sugars, organic acids and texture variation.