Postharvest Melatonin Application Preserves Quality and Imparts Chilling Tolerance in Peaches

Table 2

Effect of 0 μM (control) or 100 μM (treated) melatonin on the colour parameters in peach fruit during storage at 2 ± 1°C for 21 days followed by a simulation period of 3 days at ambient temperature.

Day	Melatonin treatment (μM)				h°	C
0	0	68.35 ± 0.98^ax	−2.37 ± 3.27^a	31.32 ± 3.27^a	85.67 ± 0.71^a	31.41 ± 0.91^a
	100	66.20 ± 0.68^ay	−2.35 ± 3.35^a	31.17 ± 2.27^a	85.68 ± 0.15^a	31.26 ± 0.32^a
7	0	62.43 ± 1.44^bx	−1.17 ± 3.35^bx	29.78 ± 3.13^bx	87.75 ± 1.29^bx	29.80 ± 1.65^bx
	100	60.24 ± 1.0^by	−1.89 ± 1.17^by	31.00 ± 1.27^by	86.5 ± 1.78^by	31.06 ± 2.1^by
14	0	61.31 ± 1.99^cx	4.58 ± 2.04^cx	22.87 ± 2.07^cx	78.67 ± 1.44^cx	23.32 ± 2.1^cx
	100	58.71 ± 0.61^cy	2.34 ± 1.56^cy	27.65 ± 1.21^cy	85.16 ± 1.04^cy	27.75 ± 2.6^cy
21	0	55.36 ± 1.8^dx	6.76 ± 2.71^dx	20.97 ± 1.52^dx	72.13 ± 0.23^dx	22.03 ± 1.22^dx
	100	57.91 ± 1.46^dy	4.67 ± 1.23^dy	25.43 ± 1.11^dy	79.59 ± 0.71^dy	25.86 ± 1.45^dy

denotes lightness/darkness, denotes redness/greenness, denotes yellowness/blueness, h° denotes the hue angle, and, C denotes chroma; letters a, b, and c indicate significant differences as based on Tukey’s test ().