Effect of Salicylic Acid and Chitosan on the Postharvest Quality and Storage Life of Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus spp.) During Cold Storage

Aug 31, 2026

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Pre-storage treatments with salicylic acid (2 mM) and chitosan (1%) were applied to red- and white-pulp dragon fruit to evaluate postharvest quality and storage life over 21 days at 6°C ± 1°C and 70% ± 5% RH. Salicylic acid reduced weight loss by about one-third and cut postharvest decay by half, while lowering lesion areas and respiration rate to 0.7× control. It better preserved freshness, peel color, firmness, ascorbic acid, phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidant activity through day 21. Chitosan showed less decay and weight loss benefit, but greater losses of phenolics and antioxidant activity. Combined with low temperature, salicylic acid is highlighted as a potential preservation approach for up to 21 days.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background and problem of postharvest losses

Rationale for salicylic acid and chitosan

Aim of the study

New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science RESEARCH ARTICLE Effect of Salicylic Acid and Chitosan on the Postharvest Quality and Storage Life of Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus spp.) During Cold Storage Deep Lata1 | Cherukatu Kalathil Narayana2 | Subbaraman Sriram2 | Karthik Nayaka Vishwanatha nagenahalli Srinivasa murthy2 | Vinayak V. Deshi1 | Fozia Homa1 | Duniya Ram Singh1 | Mohammed Wasim Siddiqui1 1Bihar Agricultural University, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India | 2ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India Correspondence: Mohammed Wasim Siddiqui ([wasim_serene@yahoo.com](wasim_serene@yahoo.com)) Received: 16 May 2025 | Revised: 3 February 2026 | Accepted: 4 February 2026 Keywords: antioxidant activity | chitosan | postharvest | salicylic acid | storage ABSTRACT Dragon fruits (red and white pulp) were treated with pre-storage treatments salicylic acid (SA)-2 mM and chitosan-1%. Quality and shelf life of fruits were judged by changes in physicochemical parameters during 21 days of storage (6°C ± 1°C and 70% ± 5% RH). Results indicated that SA reduced weight loss by 1/3rd and postharvest fruit decay by half in both color types. In vitro studies observed that the lesion areas and disease symptoms of the fruit were lowest in the SA treatment. The respiration rate was 0.7 times lower than that of the control after 21 days. In addition, SA maintained better freshness, peel color, firmness, ascorbic acid, phenolics content, flavonoids content, and antioxidant activity till 21 days. In SA-treated red and white-pulped fruit, the retention of phenols (57.95 and 36.16 mg/100 g, respectively) and flavonoids (49.08 and 26.95 mg/100 g, respectively) was 11% greater than that of the control, while the radical scavenging activity was 13% greater (37.76% and 20.15%, respectively) on 21 days. Chitosan showed a promising effect on minimizing weight loss, but the loss of phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity and spoilage was higher than SA-treated fruits. Thus, SA combined with low temperature could be a potential postharvest treatment for preserving the quality of dragon fruit up to 21 days. 1 | Introduction Dragon fruit (Hylocereus sp.) is native to Mexico and Central America, and its cultivation has spread to East and Southeast Asia. As an exotic crop, it was recently introduced in India. An Indian estimate by ICAR-NIASM reported that India produces approximately 12,113 metric tonnes of dragon fruit annually, from an area of approximately 3084 ha (Wakchaure et al. 2021). Globally, it has gained substantial popularity due to its high nutritional and economic value. It is a rich source of phytochemicals such as ascorbic acid, phenols, betalains, and antioxidants and has beneficial effects on several diseases (Li et al. 2023; Choo and Yong 2011). Dragon fruit is prone to moisture loss, shriveling, and postharvest decay (Ali et al. 2013) . However, anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is a potential threat to the postharvest handling of dragon fruit (Ali et al. 2013) . Fungicides such as benomyl, carbendazim, propineb and difenoconazole have been used to control microbial infection in dragon fruit (Ali et al. 2013) . However, the use of chemicals postharvest is not encouraged due to their toxicological effects and export restrictions (European Commission 2019) . Additionally, awareness of the harmful residual effects of fungicides on human health, the environment and fungal resistance toward fungicides has compelled the need for alternative postharvest treatments. The use of generally recognized as safe (GRAS) compounds such as salicylic acid (SA), chitosan, and nitric oxide can be a better option for enhancing natural resistance and maintaining fruit quality (FDA 2015) . SA is a new plant hormone that is involved in plant defense mechanisms and stress tolerance by inducing systemic acquired resistance (SAR, Zhang et al. 2021; Mustafa et al. 2018) . The postharvest ap

FAQs

What storage conditions were used to assess dragon fruit quality?

Dragon fruit were stored for 21 days at 6°C ± 1°C and 70% ± 5% relative humidity to track changes in physicochemical quality parameters.

How did salicylic acid affect weight loss and postharvest decay?

Salicylic acid reduced weight loss by about one-third and decreased postharvest fruit decay by about half in both red- and white-pulp dragon fruit.

How did chitosan compare with salicylic acid in preserving antioxidant-related compounds?

Chitosan minimized weight loss, but it led to higher losses of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity than salicylic-acid-treated fruit.

Aug 31, 2026

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