Near-freezing temperature storage maintains apricot plum quality and aroma-related volatile profiles associated with retained starch and sucrose

Abstract Apricot plum (Prunus domestica × armeniaca) is a perishable stone fruit that undergoes rapid postharvest loss of commercial quality and aroma-related volatile profiles. Although low-temperature storage is widely used for stone fruit, the effectiveness of near-freezing temperature (NFT) storage and its metabolic mechanism in apricot plum remain insufficiently defined. In this study, the fruit freezing point was determined, and apricot plum fruit were stored at room temperature (RT), conventional low temperature (CLT), or NFT. Quality attributes, physiological indices, sugar-acid status, and volatile profiles were compared among the three regimes, and the most contrasting groups (RT and NFT) were further analysed for ultrastructure, starch–sucrose metabolic, and transcriptomic responses. The fruit freezing point was approximately −3.1 °C, and −1.0 °C was selected for NFT storage. Compared with RT and CLT, NFT maintained higher marketability, better preserved firmness, soluble solids, and titratable acidity, limited storage-induced shifts in aroma-related volatile profiles, and reduced weight loss. NFT also preserved cell wall and membrane integrity more effectively than RT, slowed starch depletion and sucrose loss, and maintained higher sucrose synthase and sucrose phosphate synthase activities. Transcriptomic analysis showed that these responses were accompanied by differential expression of genes involved in starch and sucrose metabolism and hormone signaling. These findings indicate that NFT storage is an effective temperature-management strategy for maintaining apricot plum commercial quality and aroma-related volatile profiles, with benefits associated with better cellular integrity and greater retention of starch and sucrose.