Exogenous nitric oxide fumigation promoted the emission of volatile organic compounds in peach fruit during shelf life after long-term cold storage

Cold temperature is a common method to store peach after harvest. While long-term cold storage leads to the occurrence of chilling injury and loss of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) after transferring peach to shelf life. Nitric oxide (NO) treatment has been proven to alleviate peach chilling injury. However, the effect of NO treatment on peach VOCs during cold storage plus shelf life is still unknown. In this study, 10 μL L−1 NO was used to fumigate peach before 4 °C cold storage. After cold storage for 21 days, peach were transferred to 20 °C for 3 days to simulate shelf life. Results showed that NO treatment promoted the emission of main VOCs including C6 aldehydes, C6 alcohols, straight-chain esters and lactones after cold storage, supported by the changes of fatty acids and genes expression of PpFADs, PpLOXs, PpHPL, PpADH, PpAATs and PpACXs. Besides, NO also alleviated the occurrence of chilling injury and promoted the recovery of respiration rate and ethylene production during shelf life. In conclusion, treatment with NO effectively prevented the loss of VOCs when transferring peach from cold temperature to shelf life in “Xiahui 6” peach and the possible mechanisms were discussed.