In order to explore the effect of exogenous glucose (Glc) treatment on the postharvest storage quality and antioxidant metabolism of apricot fruit, ‘Saimaiti’ apricot fruit from Xinjiang were stored for up to 49 days at (0 ± 1) ℃ and a relative humidity of 90%–95% after vacuum osmosis treatment (holding for 2 min at 0.05 MPa followed by soaking for 5 min at atmospheric pressure) with different concentrations (100, 200 and 400 mmol/L) of Glc or distilled water as a control. Fruit quality and antioxidant metabolism-related indexes were determined during the storage period. The results showed that exogenous Glc treatment could effectively maintain the firmness, soluble solids content (SSC) and titratable acid (TA) levels, and significantly reduce the respiration intensity of apricot fruit, with the most pronounced effect being observed at 200 mmol/L Glc. In addition, exogenous Glc treatment increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR) in apricot fruit compared with the control group, and effectively maintained the contents of ascorbic acid (ASA) and glutathione (GSH), thus delaying the accumulation of superoxide anion radical, hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde (MDA) and the increase of cell membrane permeability. These findings indicate that exogenous Glc treatment could maintain the storage quality of apricot fruit by regulating its antioxidant metabolism during storage, which will provide a theoretical basis and technical reference for the application of Glc in postharvest storage and preservation of fruits and vegetables.

This study was conducted in order to explore the effect of exogenous glucose treatment on postharvest cold resistance and sugar metabolism in apricot fruit. Xinjiang-grown ‘Saimati’ apricots were subjected to vacuum osmosis treatment with different concentrations of glucose followed by cold storage at (0 ± 1) ℃ for 49 days. The incidence of chilling injury, chilling injury index, quality and sugar metabolism-related indicators of apricot fruit were measured at regular intervals during the storage period. The results showed that 200 mmol/L exogenous glucose treatment could effectively inhibit the increase in the incidence of chilling injury, chilling injury index, cell membrane permeability and the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA), and well maintain the hardness, color, soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acid (TA) and ascorbic acid (ASA) contents of apricot fruit. Meanwhile, compared with the control group, the exogenous glucose treatment increased the activities of acid invertase (AI), neutral invertase (NI), sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) and sucrose synthase (SS) in apricot fruit, and significantly increased the accumulation of glucose and fructose during storage. However, the content of sucrose decreased during the mid-to-late stage of storage (21–49 days). In summary, exogenous glucose treatment could enhance the contents of glucose and fructose by regulating the activity of enzymes related to sugar metabolism, thereby enhancing cold resistance and maintaining the storage quality of the fruit. The results of this study can provide a reference for controlling chilling injury in postharvest apricot fruit.