Citral improves the quality of fresh Gastrodia elata by regulating cell wall metabolism and the phenylpropanoid pathway

•Citral enhances quality of fresh Gastrodia elata.•Citral inhibited the activity and maintained high enzymatic activities degradation of cell wall-degrading enzymes.•Citral activated the phenylpropane metabolic pathway.•Citral treatment showed great potential to delay soften and senescence in post-harvest Gastrodia elata. Gastrodia elata is a valuable medicinal plant. However, it has a short shelf life, which is the main factor that limits its storage and transportation. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of citral on the interactions between quality, cell wall metabolism, and the phenylpropanoid pathway of G.elata during storage at a low temperature(4 ± 1 °C). The results showed that citral treatment maintained the hardness, titratable acid, soluble solids, soluble proteins, and vitamin C of G.elata and inhibited the increase in the decay index, weight loss, malondialdehyde, and relative conductivity. Citral treatment retained higher levels of protopectin, cellulose, and starch which was achieved by inhibiting the activities of cell wall degradation-related enzymes, including cellulase, amylase, α-amylase, pectinase, β-glucosidase, β-galactosidase, and α-l-arabinofuranosidase, and reduced soluble pectin content, thereby maintaining the cell wall structure of G.elata. In addition, citral application enhanced the enzymatic activities of phenylalanine-ammonia-lyase, 4-coumarate-CoA ligase, cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase, and cinnamaldehyde dehydrogenase and improved lignin, total phenolic and flavonoid content in G.elata. Collectively, these findings suggest that citral can retard senescence softening and maintain the quality of G.elata by modulating the cell wall metabolism and phenylpropanoid pathway at low temperatures.