Oxalic acid alleviates chilling injury in peach fruit by regulating energy metabolism and fatty acid contents.

The effects of postharvest oxalic acid (OA) treatment on chilling injury, energy metabolism and membrane fatty acid content in 'Baifeng' peach fruit stored at 0°C were investigated. Internal browning was significantly reduced by OA treatment in peaches. OA treatment markedly inhibited the increase of ion leakage and the accumulation of malondialdehyde. Meanwhile, OA significantly increased the contents of adenosine triphosphate and energy charge in peach fruit. Enzyme activities of energy metabolism including H(+)-adenosine triphosphatase, Ca(2+)-adenosine triphosphatase, succinic dehydrogenase and cytochrome C oxidase were markedly enhanced by OA treatment. The ratio of unsaturated/saturated fatty acid in OA-treated fruit was significantly higher than that in control fruit. These results suggest that the alleviation in chilling injury by OA may be due to enhanced enzyme activities related to energy metabolism and higher levels of energy status and unsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio.