INT J CURR SCI 2015, 15: E 123-131 RESEARCH ARTICLE ISSN 2250-1770 Effect of methyl jasmonate treatment on decay, post-harvest life and quality of Strawberry (Fragaria ananassa L. cv. Gaviota) fruit Mahsa Geransayeh a *, Sadegh Sepahvand b , Vahid Abdossi c and Vahid Zarrinnia d a,b,c Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University Tehran, Iran 4 Plant Protection Department, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University Tehran, Iran *Corresponding author: m.geransayeh@yahoo.com Abstract Strawberry as a non-climacteric and perishable fruit that is susceptible to fungal infections especially Botrytis cinerea. Therefore, its storage life is too short. Alternatives to the use of conventional fungicides are needed because of concerns about human health risks. Postharvest application of conventional fungicides to fruits is prohibited. The aim of this study was evaluation of nonchemical and safe compounds like methyl jasmonate. To prolonged fruit storage life and maintained quality and quantity characteristics of strawberry fruit. Therefore, MeJA at 4 concentration (0, 10, 30 and 60 μl -1 ) and 2 treatment methods (spray on fruits and paper disk method) in in vivo condition were used. Then quality characteristics of fruits (weight loss, pH, TA, TSS, vitamin C, anthocyanin, calcium, pectin, decay and sensory analyses) were evaluated. Treated fruits with MeJA had lower weight loss, pH, TSS and decay and higher TA, vitamin C, anthocyanin, calcium, pectin and fruit quality compared to controls. As a general result, all of treatments caused lower decay incidence and longer storability and improved fruit quality compared to controls. Among all treatment methods paper disk method had higher effectuality compared to spray method. Keywords: methyl jasmonate, quality attributes, storability, decay, in vivo Received: 14 th January 2015; Revised: 29 th February; Accepted: 15 th March; © IJCS New Liberty Group 2015 Introduction Strawberry fruit is very susceptible to postharvest decay caused by Botrytis cinerea (Yao and Tian, 2005). Fungal diseases result in major losses of fruits and vegetables and can be controlled effectively by synthetic chemical fungicides (Snowdon, 1992; Eckert and Ogawa, 1998). However, the development of fungicide resistance by pathogens and increasing environmental concern over fungicidal residues in fruit and vegetables has stimulated a search for alternative measures for disease control (Holmes and Eckert, 1999; Castoria et al., 2001; Fan and Tian, 2001; Zhang et al., 2002). Effective control of disease of strawberry fruit requires novel strategies (Yao and Tian, 2005). Jasmonic acid (JA) and its volatiles derivative MeJA, are collectively called jasmonates (Mueller et al., 1993; Creelman and Mullet, 1997). Jasmonates are fatty acid derivative with a 12-carbon backbone that plays a role in plant development and plant defense against pests. JA and MeJA were shown to induce increased production of the secondary metabolites (Nilprapruck et al., 2008). Because, MeJA is already classified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration