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• Preharvest sprays with COS or/and SA were applied to reduce the postharvest biological losses of apricots. • Preharvest treatment improved postharvest quality was firstly used in 'Xiaobai' apricots. • A treatment of combined COS + SA treatment improved phenol metabolism and alleviated chilling injury during storage. • We developed a simple and effective preharvest method for preservation of apricots. To improve the apricots quality of preharvest spray with 0.05 % chitosan oligochitosan (COS) or/and 1 mmol L−1 salicylic acid (SA) were applied on the tree. The postharvest quality parameters and phenol metabolism of 'xiaobai' apricot fruit were evaluated during the storage at 2 °C for 70 d. The result showed that the treatment with COS or SA could decayed the rise decay rate, fruit softening, color change, and the decrease in total soluble solid and titratable acidity content during the apricot storage; however the combined treatment of with COS and SA could more effectively delay postharvest senescence of the apricot than the individual treatment of COS or SA. Furthermore, the COS + SA treatment alleviated chilling injury and delayed the increases of ion leakage, internal browning index and malonaldehyde content, effectively. In addition, the COS + SA treatment remarkably activated the activity of defense enzymes, as well as maintained higher bioactive level of phenol compounds, and enhanced antioxidant capacity in apricots. In conclusion, these results indicated the preharvest treatment of combined COS + SA can be applied for reducing chilling injury and improving the quality of apricots during low temperature storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce the postharvest loss and improve apricot quality attributes, near freezing temperature (NFT) technology was applied to store apricot cultivars (var. "Xiaobai" and "Daliguang"). The NFT storage temperatures for the "Xiaobai" apricot and "Daliguang" apricot were determined as −1.9 to −2.3°C and −1.2 to −1.6°C, respectively. Storage at NFT significantly improved the storage quality of apricots by suppressing respiration rate, ethylene production, decay rate, internal browning index, membrane permeability, and malondialdehyde content. Apricots stored at NFT maintained higher firmness, total soluble solids, titrable acid, total phenolics, total flavonoids, and ascorbic acid content than those stored at 0–1°C. Additionally, NFT storage enhanced the capacity of radical scavenging and metal chelating, antioxidant properties in apricots compared to those stored at 0–1°C. Hence, NFT storage proved to be an effective method to improve the quality and antioxidant attributes of apricots. Practical applications: This study explored the effect of storage at near freezing temperature (NFT) on the postharvest quality of two cultivars of apricot (var. "Xiaobai" and "Daliguang"). We found that storage for 70 days at NFT resulted in better edible quality compared to storage at 0–1°C and 4–6°C. Apricot quality was determined in terms of respiration rate, ethylene production, decay rate, internal browning index, membrane permeability, malondialdehyde content, firmness, total soluble solids, titrable acid, total phenolics, total flavonoids, and ascorbic acid content. The antioxidant properties of the fruits were also retained during storage at NFT. We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the preservative industry because it demonstrates the superiority of NFT storage over low temperature for apricots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]