Pre-Storage Salicylic Acid Treatment Affects Functional Properties and Chilling Resistance of Pomegranate during Cold Storage

Salicylic acid (SA) is a phenolic compound which affects growth and development and protects the plants against environmental stresses, although no information is available about its effect on functional properties in pomegranate during cold storage, which was the objective of this research. Thus, pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruits were dipped in 2 mM solution of SA and stored at 2 degrees C for 90 days. Every month, samples were taken and further stored 3 days at 20 degrees C for shelf life study. Treated and chilled fruits were compared with chilled and non-chilled fruits (stored at 2 and 10 degrees C, respectively). Arils from treated fruits exhibited higher antioxidant activity (both in hydrophilic and lipophilic fractions) than chilled and non-chilled fruits, which was correlated to high levels of total phenolics and anthocyanin contents. Additionally, the chilling index, ion leakage and respiration rate of treated fruits were lower than chilled fruits but higher than non-chilled fruits. Since SA is a natural compound without any disadvantage effects, with this simple treatment, the functional properties of fruits could be greater than recently harvested fruits, thus providing a high content in health-beneficial compound to consumers and low fruit chilling injury symptoms.