Exogenous melatonin treatment in the postharvest storage of pitaya fruits delays senescence and regulates reactive oxygen species metabolism

Pitaya fruits have high senescence rates throughout their postharvest storage period. Additionally, studies confirmed that melatonin plays a regulatory role in plant senescence. However, the involvement of remains unclear. In this study, two cultivars pitaya fruit, ‘Zihonglong’ and ‘Jinghonglong’, were treated with then evaluated for characteristics while 10 days. The results showed treatment delayed fruit both cultivars, as indicated by inhibition weight loss, decay incidence, relative membrane permeability, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, well maintenance total soluble solids ascorbic acid contents reduced respiration intensity. addition, O2·- production rates, H2O2 contents, lipoxygenase activities but enhanced superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate (APX) cultivars. These indicate may contribute to delaying fruits. This study shows potential use fruits, other horticultural