Melatonin treatment reduces chilling injury in peach fruit through its regulation of membrane fatty acid contents and phenolic metabolism

•MT delayed the development of chilling injury in peach fruit.•MT maintained higher ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids in peach fruit.•MT stimulated phenolic anabolism and prevented lipid peroxidation in peach fruit.•MT inhibited PPO and POD activities leading to reduced flesh browning in peach fruit. Effects of 0.1 mM melatonin (MT) on chilling injury (CI), membrane fatty acid content and phenolic metabolism in peach fruit were studied during storage at 1°C for 28 days. MT treatment delayed the development of CI in peach fruit, as was illustrated by MT-treated fruit showing lower CI incidence, CI index and firmness loss than the control. MT treatment prevented membrane lipid peroxidation and contributed to maintaining a higher ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids in peach fruit. MT treatment also stimulated the activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, shikimate dehydrogenase and phenylalanine ammonia lyase, but inhibited the activities of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase. This would help in activating the accumulation of total phenolic and endogenous salicylic acid that might have a direct function in alleviation of CI. These results indicate that MT treatment can be an effective technique to reduce postharvest CI during low temperature storage of peach fruit.