Effects of Salicylic Acid, Jasmonic Acid, and Calcium Chloride on Reducing Chilling Injury of Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Fruit

The pomegranate fruits of cvs. Malas Yazdi and Malas Ashkezar were immersed in SA (1 and 2 mM from source of acytyl salicylic acid) for five minutes, in JA (0.3 and 0.4 mM from source of n-propyl dihydrojasmonate) for fifteen minutes, in CaCl2 (1 and 2%) for five minutes, and in distilled water for five minutes as control. Then, the fruits were stored in cold storage at 1.5 +/- 0.5 degrees C and 85 +/- 5% relative humidity for 2 months. Every 21 days, samples were taken out of the cold storage and were kept at 20 degrees C for 3 days before analysis. The analysis results revealed that treatments with SA, JA, and CaCl2 significantly reduced the chilling injury of pomegranate fruits. The lowest chilling injury index was observed in 0.4 mM of JA-treated fruits and the highest was for untreated fruits. Electrolyte leakage of fruits increased upon treatments of fruits with 0.3 mM JA and 2 mM SA, but it was not significantly affected by other treatments. Treatments of fruits with SA, JA, and CaCl2 had no significant effect on phenolic compounds, but the total soluble solids of fruit juices was increased. Our findings indicated that total antioxidant activity decreased in treatments with 1, 2 mM SA and 0.3 mM JA, but it was not significantly affected by other treatments.