Study on the effect of icariin on the preservation of postharvest mango fruit

The effect of exogenous icariin (0.005% and 0.01%) on mango cultivar 'Zill' fruit during 25 degrees C storage was investigated in this study. The results showed 0.005% icariin treatment could delay the decline of fruit firmness and yellowing process of flesh tissues, inhibit the conversion of soluble sugar, synthesis of carotenoids and degradation of vitamin C, and reduce the disease spots, and to maintain the appearance and nutrient quality. Moreover, the treatment could improve the disease resistance of fruit by inhibiting catalase (CAT) activity in the early stage of storage, but promoting peroxidase (POD) activity in the later stage. Furthermore, icariin treatment reduced the activities of polygalacturonase (PG) and pectate lyase (PL), thus attenuated the degradation of cell wall and decelerated the softening process. The above results indicate 0.005% icariin treatment could extend the shelf life of postharvest mango and present application value for fruits preservation. Practical applications Mango is a highly perishable fruit and undergoes a rapid ripening process after harvest. Icariin is the main active ingredient of Chinese herbal medicine Herba epimedin 'Yinyanghuo'. The efficacy of icariin in mammals has been widely studied, while its' preservation functions in food were rarely reported. Our results suggested that icariin treatment could delay the ripening and senescence, and enhance disease resistance of postharvest mango, which is expected to be a promising approach for fruit preservation in further industrial application.