Abstract: The effect of postharvest exogenous polyamine treatment on black spot disease control and storage quality of apricot (cv. Dajiexing) fruits was studied. The results showed that this treatment significantly inhibited black spot development and increased disease resistance in apricot fruits and the effect was dependent on the type and concentration of polyamine. Moreover, the treatment with 1.5 mmol/L spermine, 1.5 mmol/L spermidine or 10 mmol/L putrescine was the most effective, resulting in a decrease in lesion diameter of 38.0%, 26.6% and 34.2%, respectively when compared with the control. At the same time, polyamine treatment reduced weight loss percentage, inhibited the increase of respiration intensity and ethylene release, and retarded the decline of fruit firmness, soluble solid content and color change. In a word, the findings suggested that polyamines may be promising for application in disease control and preservation of apricot fruits.

Key words: polyamines, apricot, black spot, storage quality