The fruit of pomegranate is bioactive compound source but is sensitive to low storage temperature. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) spray on pomegranate trees was used in an attempt to evaluate its possible effect on fruit bioactive constituent changes and chilling injury (CI) incidence. Pomegranates trees were treated 15 days before harvest with distilled water or 1 and 2 mM MeJA, and then harvested fruit was stored at 4°C about 80 days. It was found that preharvest MeJA treatments improved arils color at harvest and reduced the postharvest CI index. Electrolyte leakage increased over storage, however, it was significantly higher in control rather than those treated. In addition, MeJA treatments significantly increased flavonoids, total antioxidant activity (TAA), total phenolics (TP), and total anthocyanins in comparison with untreated control.
