Abstract: The purpose of this work was to investigate the effect of near freezing temperature storage versus storage at 0–1 ℃ and 4–6 ℃ on the antioxidant activity and quality of postharvest Xiaobai apricot fruit. The results showed that the freezing point of the fruit was determined to be ?2.3 ℃. Compared with two other storage temperatures, storage at near freezing temperature (?1.5 to ?2.0 ℃) could effectively inhibit respiration rate and ethylene production rate and therefore reduce decay incidence of apricot fruit by suppressing accumulation of membrane permeability and malondialdehyde content. In addition, apricot fruit maintained higher antioxidant capacity and higher contents of total phenols and total flavonoids as well as higher contents of major organic acids at the later stage of near freezing temperature storage. Better fruit quality was maintained during 84 days of near freezing temperature storage. Therefore, near freezing temperature storage should be recommended for improving the storage quality and antioxidant capacity of postharvest apricots.

Key words: storage at near freezing temperature, Xiaobai apricot, storage quality, antioxidant capacity