Molecular insights into post-harvest quality management in Prunus persica: Mechanisms, tools and strategies

Post-harvest ripening is a complex process that leads to the degradation of proteins, lipids and nucleic acids, thereby impacting fruit quality traits, such as texture, taste and aroma. Therefore, once the fruit has been harvested, it is essential to ensure proper storage, minimising quality deterioration as far as possible. The selection of appropriate post-harvest management strategies, as well as optimal transportation conditions, are thus crucial to preserve fruit quality. Fruit can be preserved by lowering the temperature during the post-harvest stage. In fact, low temperatures slow down metabolic processes such as respiration and ethylene biosynthesis, both of which are necessary for continued ripening. However, in temperature-sensitive fruits such as peach, prolonged cold storage can lead to loss of quality, and development of chilling injury (CI) symptoms. In this chapter, we first discuss the physiological, metabolomic, and molecular changes induced by chilling stress in peach fruits subjected to cold storage treatment. Then, technological tools and recent studies exploring these complex mechanisms are reported and critically illustrated, with the aim of providing a clear and critical overview of the most effective and innovative strategies to counteract CI and to extend the peach shelf-life. The focus is on omics and multi-omics approaches, which can identify correlations among various biological components involved in plant function regulation and stress responses.