White LED light affects flavor and nutritional quality of harvested apricot fruit

‘Chuan Zhi Hong ’ apricot fruit were used to study the effects of 5 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ white LED light on the storage quality of fruit kept at 20 °C. The treatment delayed ripening of the fruit, maintaining texture and inhibiting the loss of protopectin content and soluble pectin content during storage. Treated fruit also had lower ethylene production, higher alcohol dehydrogenase and lipoxygenase activities, and enhanced aroma. Fructose and sucrose accumulated in the treated fruit, while glucose and soluble solids content decreased. The treatment also resulted in a slower loss of malic acid, oxalic acid, citric acid, and ascorbic acid contents, and maintained malate dehydrogenase activity. The treatment also suppressed the increase in malic enzyme activity. During storage, 42 volatile compounds were detected in untreated and treated fruit, but the LED treatment increased the production of aroma compounds such as 1,4-dioxane, 3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol, and methyl octanoate, inhibited the generation of undesirable compounds like 2-butanone, ethanol (D), diallyl sulfide, and dimethyl disulfide. White LED light treatment can effectively maintain apricot quality during storage, preserve good flavor, and extend storage life.