Harvest does not stop a fruit or vegetable from being biologically active.

Once removed from the plant, fresh produce continues to respire, lose water and undergo biochemical changes associated with ripening and senescence. Cold storage can slow these processes, but temperature-sensitive produce can also suffer chilling injury, while oxidative stress, membrane damage, browning and moisture loss can progressively reduce marketable quality.

This combination creates one of agriculture's persistent challenges:

How can fresh horticultural produce retain quality for longer between harvest and consumption?

Trehalose is attracting increasing attention as one possible postharvest treatment.

Studies in apples, guava, peaches, litchi, cherry tomatoes, peppers and grapes suggest that externally applied trehalose can influence several processes involved in postharvest deterioration, including respiration, moisture loss, antioxidant defence, membrane stability, sugar metabolism, energy status and colour retention.[1–8]

The evidence is still crop- and treatment-specific, but postharvest horticulture is emerging as a distinct application for trehalose alongside its better-known uses in plant stress management and biological agricultural formulations.

Why does fruit deteriorate after harvest?

Fresh produce remains metabolically active after it has been picked.

Respiration continues to consume stored carbohydrates and oxygen. Water continues to evaporate through the skin. Cell membranes gradually lose integrity, and enzymes continue to transform sugars, acids, pigments and structural components.

Depending on the crop, this can result in:

• loss of firmness
• weight loss
• colour deterioration
• browning
• loss of flavour
• reduced nutritional quality
• chilling injury
• tissue breakdown
• eventual decay.

Temperature is one of the most important tools available to slow these changes.

But refrigeration creates its own problems.

Tropical and subtropical fruits in particular can be damaged when stored below their normal physiological temperature range. This chilling injury may appear as browning, pitting, abnormal ripening, loss of flavour or internal tissue damage.

Research into trehalose has therefore developed along two related lines:

maintaining general postharvest quality, and helping fruit tolerate the stress of cold storage.

Trehalose and apple storage quality

Apples provide a particularly clear example of the first application.

Researchers investigated postharvest treatment of Golden Delicious apples using a 1.5 g/L trehalose dip.[1]

Compared with untreated fruit, trehalose-treated apples showed:

• reduced weight loss
• lower respiration
• better maintenance of soluble solids
• greater flesh firmness during storage.[1]

The researchers also examined what was happening metabolically.

Trehalose altered enzymes and gene expression involved in both sucrose metabolism and respiration.

In particular, treatment favoured pathways associated with sucrose synthesis while restricting some of the pathways responsible for converting sucrose into glucose and fructose.[1]

Changes were also observed in the major respiratory pathways through which harvested fruit releases energy.

The significance is that the effect was not limited to forming a coating on the fruit surface.

Trehalose appeared to influence the underlying metabolism of the stored apple.

The researchers concluded that trehalose helped maintain postharvest apple quality by regulating sucrose and respiratory metabolism.[1]

Reducing postharvest weight loss

Weight loss is one of the most commercially visible signs of postharvest deterioration.

Fresh fruit contains a high proportion of water. Once harvested, that water is gradually lost to the surrounding atmosphere.

Excessive moisture loss can lead to:

• shrivelling
• softer texture
• reduced mass
• poorer appearance
• lower saleable yield.

The apple study found significantly lower weight loss following trehalose treatment.[1]

More recent work in Kyoho grapes similarly found that trehalose-treated fruit experienced less weight loss during 19 days of storage.[8]

This does not establish trehalose as a universal anti-desiccation coating.

However, it supports the broader idea that trehalose treatment can influence both water relations and the physiological processes contributing to postharvest deterioration.

Trehalose and chilling injury

One of the strongest areas of postharvest trehalose research is chilling injury.

Cold storage is essential for extending the commercial life of many horticultural crops.

Yet some fruits and vegetables are sensitive to temperatures that are above freezing but still too low for their normal physiology.

Trehalose appears particularly interesting because its biological functions are closely associated with cellular protection during environmental stress.

Research has demonstrated chilling-injury effects in:

• guava
• peach
• fresh-cut pepper.[2–5]

Across these crops, recurring mechanisms include:

• membrane protection
• antioxidant defence
• energy metabolism
• regulation of soluble sugars.

Evidence from guava

Guava provides one of the most detailed examples.

Researchers treated Kim Ju guava fruit with 200 mM trehalose for 30 minutes before cold storage.[2]

Trehalose reduced chilling injury and helped maintain membrane integrity.

The treatment also influenced soluble-sugar metabolism and cellular energy status.[2]

Follow-up work investigated the mechanism in greater detail.

Guava fruit treated with 200 mM trehalose and stored at 8°C for 14 days showed activation of SnRK1, an important cellular energy-sensing system.[3]

Trehalose produced a temporary rise in sucrose early in storage, which was associated with increased SnRK1 activity.

This in turn was accompanied by greater activity in several energy-producing processes and a higher cellular energy charge.[3]

The practical result was lower chilling injury.

In that study, chilling symptoms appeared later in trehalose-treated fruit, and the chilling-injury index was on average around 43% lower than the untreated control during the relevant observation period.[3]

This makes guava research especially useful because it links the visible storage outcome with a plausible biochemical mechanism:

Trehalose treatment appears able to influence the harvested fruit's own energy-management response to cold stress.

Trehalose and peach chilling injury

Peaches are another cold-sensitive fruit.

Although refrigeration slows ripening, unsuitable low-temperature storage can result in characteristic chilling symptoms including:

• woolly or mealy flesh
• internal browning
• poor flavour development
• abnormal ripening.

Earlier research showed that dipping peaches in trehalose could reduce chilling symptoms.[2]

More recent molecular work has provided considerably greater insight into why.

A 2024 study used transcriptomic analysis to examine trehalose-treated peaches during cold storage.[4]

Trehalose increased antioxidant activity and affected signalling pathways involving:

• calcium
• reactive oxygen species
• MAP kinase signalling.[4]

Activities of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and glutathione reductase increased.

At the same time, hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde — both associated with oxidative and membrane damage — decreased.[4]

The study therefore provides further evidence that postharvest trehalose is not acting simply as an external physical protectant.

It can influence the fruit's own stress-response signalling and antioxidant systems.

Protecting fresh-cut peppers

Fresh-cut produce is particularly vulnerable after processing.

Cutting damages cells, increases exposed surface area and accelerates moisture loss, respiration and oxidative deterioration.

A 2018 study investigated fresh-cut pepper stored at low temperature.[5]

The researchers used a trehalose treatment before cold storage and found:

• greater antioxidant-enzyme activity
• lower malondialdehyde accumulation
• reduced electrolyte leakage
• less cellular ultrastructural damage.[5]

Trehalose also slowed the decline in:

• chlorophyll
• vitamin C.[5]

Electron microscopy showed better preservation of chloroplasts, mitochondria and cell-wall structures in treated tissue.

This provides a particularly interesting connection between postharvest agriculture and food processing.

Trehalose may have applications not only in whole harvested fruit but also in minimally processed horticultural produce.

Trehalose and fruit browning

Browning is another major source of postharvest quality loss.

It can result from physical damage, chilling injury, oxidative stress and enzyme-mediated oxidation of phenolic compounds.

Litchi is an extreme example.

Its red pericarp can deteriorate rapidly after harvest, substantially reducing commercial value even when the edible flesh remains acceptable.

Research published in 2025 investigated 2.5 g/L trehalose treatment in Feizixiao litchi stored at 25°C.[6]

Trehalose delayed both:

• browning
• loss of red colour.[6]

The reported browning index was on average around 31.8% lower than the untreated control during storage.

Researchers linked the effect to several mechanisms.

Trehalose increased antioxidant-enzyme activity and reduced:

• superoxide radicals
• hydrogen peroxide
• malondialdehyde
• electrolyte leakage.

It also reduced the activity of enzymes involved in enzymatic browning while helping maintain:

• phenolics
• flavonoids
• anthocyanin pigments.[6]

At the genetic level, trehalose influenced genes involved in anthocyanin synthesis and energy metabolism.

This makes litchi a useful demonstration of the potentially multifunctional nature of postharvest trehalose treatment:

it can affect oxidative stress, pigmentation, membrane integrity and cellular energy simultaneously.

Colour retention and anthocyanins

Colour is commercially important in many fruits.

Consumers routinely use external colour as an indication of freshness and quality.

In litchi, trehalose treatment helped preserve red anthocyanin pigments.[6]

The researchers found increased expression of several genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis.

This suggests that trehalose was not simply slowing pigment oxidation.

It was also affecting the fruit's ongoing pigment metabolism.

Similar principles may eventually prove relevant to other coloured fruit, although results from one crop should not automatically be transferred to another.

Cherry tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes provide another useful example of postharvest quality preservation.

A 2023 study investigated 0.5% and 1% trehalose solutions during postharvest ripening.[7]

Trehalose treatment reduced spoilage and helped maintain fruit quality and antioxidant capacity.

Under the conditions tested, the researchers reported a reduction in rot incidence from 44.5% in the comparison treatment to 18.5% following trehalose treatment.[7]

Trehalose-treated fruit maintained greater antioxidant activity and showed changes in enzymes associated with oxidative defence and lipid degradation.

The study concluded that improved antioxidant capacity was associated with lower decay incidence during storage.[7]

This is promising evidence, but the interpretation needs care.

Trehalose should not be described simply as an antimicrobial preservative on the basis of these results.

Reduced decay can result indirectly from healthier tissue, greater antioxidant capacity, stronger membranes and delayed senescence rather than direct killing of microorganisms.

Trehalose and grapes

Recent research suggests that grapes may be another promising postharvest application.

A 2026 study examined trehalose-treated Kyoho grapes over 19 days of storage.[8]

Trehalose treatment reduced:

• decay rate
• weight loss
• decay severity.[8]

Researchers then used transcriptomic and metabolomic techniques to investigate the biological response.

The treatment altered genes and metabolites associated particularly with:

• phenolic metabolism
• amino-acid biosynthesis.

The authors concluded that trehalose delayed senescence and helped preserve grape quality through coordinated metabolic regulation.[8]

This study is important because it shows the postharvest trehalose literature moving beyond simple measurements of firmness or weight loss into detailed molecular and metabolic analysis.

Antioxidant defence appears repeatedly

A striking feature across the postharvest literature is how often antioxidant defence appears.

Harvesting, storage and chilling can all increase the production of reactive oxygen species.

These include molecules such as:

• hydrogen peroxide
• superoxide radicals.

When their production exceeds the tissue's ability to control them, oxidative damage can affect:

• membrane lipids
• proteins
• pigments
• organelles
• cellular structure.

Across litchi, peach, pepper, guava, tomatoes and grapes, trehalose treatment has repeatedly been associated with either stronger antioxidant activity or lower markers of oxidative damage.[3–8]

This suggests that oxidative-stress management may be one of the principal mechanisms connecting otherwise quite different postharvest outcomes.

Protecting cellular membranes

Membrane integrity is another recurring theme.

Healthy cell membranes maintain separation between different cellular compartments.

As membranes deteriorate, enzymes and substrates that were previously separated can come into contact.

This can accelerate:

• browning
• oxidation
• leakage
• tissue breakdown.

Trehalose has long been recognised for its ability to interact with lipid membranes and proteins during dehydration and other forms of stress.

In postharvest fruit, treatment has repeatedly been associated with:

• lower electrolyte leakage
• lower lipid peroxidation
• better cellular ultrastructure.[2,4–6]

The fresh-cut pepper study provides particularly direct evidence, with microscopic observations showing better preservation of organelles and cellular architecture following trehalose treatment.[5]

Energy metabolism

Postharvest fruit still requires energy.

ATP is needed to maintain:

• membranes
• ion gradients
• antioxidant systems
• repair processes
• normal cellular organisation.

As harvested tissue ages, its ability to produce sufficient energy can decline.

Several trehalose studies now suggest that maintaining cellular energy status is an important part of postharvest quality preservation.

The guava research demonstrates this particularly clearly through activation of SnRK1 and changes in mitochondrial energy metabolism.[3]

Litchi research similarly found increased ATP and altered expression of energy-related genes following trehalose treatment.[6]

Apple research identified substantial changes in respiratory pathways.[1]

Taken together, this suggests another useful interpretation:

Trehalose can influence how harvested fruit manages its remaining carbohydrate and energy reserves during storage.

Trehalose and respiration

Respiration consumes the fruit's stored carbon reserves after harvest.

A very high respiration rate can accelerate senescence.

The apple study found that trehalose reduced respiration during storage.[1]

Researchers identified changes in pathways including:

• glycolysis
• the tricarboxylic-acid cycle
• the cytochrome pathway
• the pentose-phosphate pathway.[1]

By altering the balance of these pathways, trehalose appeared to change how rapidly stored carbohydrates were consumed.

This may partly explain the better maintenance of firmness and soluble solids observed in treated apples.

How is trehalose applied after harvest?

Most experimental postharvest treatments involve dipping or soaking harvested produce in a trehalose solutionbefore storage.

Published protocols vary considerably:

These are research treatments rather than universal commercial recommendations.[1–7]

The optimum treatment is likely to depend on:

• the crop
• cultivar
• maturity
• storage temperature
• treatment duration
• desired outcome
• subsequent processing or packaging system.

A treatment suitable for guava should therefore not simply be transferred to apples, grapes or peppers.

Postharvest trehalose is different from applying trehalose to a growing crop

It is useful to separate this area from the other agricultural applications we have discussed.

A foliar trehalose biostimulant is applied while the plant is growing.

A postharvest treatment is applied to food that has already been harvested.

That creates a different commercial and regulatory context.

Postharvest treatment may sit closer to:

• food technology
• packhouse processing
• fresh-produce preservation

than conventional field agronomy.

Potential commercial users could therefore include:

• growers
• fruit packers
• cold-storage operators
• fresh-cut produce manufacturers
• horticultural processors
• postharvest technology companies.

Product grade matters

This distinction also affects product selection.

Nagase Viita manufactures different grades of trehalose for different applications.

Its TREHALOSE Agricultural Grade is positioned for agricultural uses such as biostimulants, microbial inoculants and seed coatings.

TREHA® is the company's established food-grade trehalose.

If trehalose is being applied directly to fruit or vegetables that will subsequently be sold for human consumption, the appropriate product grade and regulatory requirements need to be established for that specific use.

Trehalose UK should therefore not automatically recommend Agricultural Grade for direct postharvest treatment of edible produce.

This is an area where the commercial application needs to be assessed jointly as both a horticultural technology and a food-chain treatment.

Trehalose is not a substitute for refrigeration

The research does not suggest that trehalose replaces conventional cold-chain management.

Temperature control remains one of the most important methods of reducing postharvest deterioration.

Trehalose is better viewed as a potential complementary treatment.

Possible objectives include:

• helping cold-sensitive produce tolerate refrigeration
• slowing specific quality losses
• supporting antioxidant defence
• extending the period over which desirable characteristics are retained.

Similarly, trehalose will not indefinitely preserve fresh produce.

Respiration, senescence and microbial deterioration ultimately continue.

Is trehalose a preservative?

This requires careful wording.

In an everyday sense, a treatment that helps fruit retain quality for longer could be described as having a preservation effect.

But trehalose should not be positioned as a conventional antimicrobial preservative.

The strongest evidence centres on physiological effects such as:

• membrane protection
• antioxidant defence
• energy metabolism
• moisture loss
• respiration
• pigmentation
• chilling tolerance.

Some studies report lower decay or rot incidence following trehalose treatment.[7,8]

That does not necessarily mean trehalose is directly killing spoilage organisms.

Maintaining healthier, less damaged tissue can itself reduce susceptibility to deterioration.

For Trehalose UK, the commercially defensible positioning is therefore around postharvest quality and physiological protection, rather than making broad antimicrobial claims.

From experimental research to commercial horticulture

The postharvest evidence has developed rapidly.

It now includes research in:

• apples
• guava
• peaches
• litchi
• cherry tomatoes
• peppers
• grapes.[1–8]

The repeated outcomes include:

Moisture and weight retention
Reduced weight loss has been observed in apples and grapes.

Firmness and quality
Apple studies show better maintenance of flesh firmness and soluble solids.

Chilling tolerance
Guava, peach and pepper research shows reduced cold-storage injury.

Colour and browning
Litchi research demonstrates better retention of red colour and reduced browning.

Antioxidant defence
A recurring response across several crops.

Membrane stability
Lower lipid damage and electrolyte leakage are repeatedly observed.

Energy metabolism
Guava, litchi and apple research shows effects on how harvested tissue produces and uses energy.

Senescence and decay
Cherry-tomato and grape studies report reduced deterioration during storage.

The range of crops and mechanisms means postharvest horticulture can no longer be regarded as a single isolated trehalose experiment.

It is becoming a recognisable research field.

Where is the commercial opportunity?

For Trehalose UK, this could develop into a specialised B2B application rather than a general consumer market.

Potential users include commercial growers and fruit businesses looking to improve:

• storage quality
• transport tolerance
• cold-chain performance
• fresh-cut processing
• marketable shelf life.

High-value and highly perishable crops may be particularly interesting because relatively small improvements in saleable quality can have significant economic value.

Examples might include:

• berries
• stone fruit
• table grapes
• tropical fruit
• tomatoes
• specialist fresh-cut produce.

However, each application requires proper trials.

The research does not justify advertising one generic trehalose dip for every harvested crop.

A developing postharvest technology

Trehalose's postharvest role appears to derive from several properties working together.

It can interact with biological membranes and water.

It can influence antioxidant systems.

It can alter sugar and respiratory metabolism.

It can influence cellular energy signalling.

And in some fruit it can modify pigment and secondary-metabolite pathways.

This combination makes trehalose particularly interesting because postharvest deterioration is itself multifactorial.

There is rarely one single cause of quality loss.

The accumulated research therefore supports a useful overall proposition:

Trehalose is emerging as a promising postharvest treatment for helping maintain the quality and stress tolerance of selected fruit and horticultural produce during storage.

The evidence is particularly strong around chilling injury, oxidative stress, membrane protection and maintenance of storage quality, while work on browning, colour, weight loss and senescence continues to develop.

Trehalose for postharvest and horticultural development

Trehalose UK is developing its support for agricultural, horticultural and technical applications of genuine Japanese trehalose.

We welcome enquiries from:

• growers
• packhouses
• fresh-produce businesses
• postharvest researchers
• horticultural processors
• universities
• product-development teams investigating trehalose for storage and fresh-produce applications.

Because direct treatment of edible produce raises specific product-grade and regulatory considerations, we recommend discussing the intended application with us before commercial use.

For technical requirements, development quantities or commercial enquiries:

sales@trehalose.co.uk

For further information, read:

Trehalose in Agriculture: Uses, Benefits & Research

Trehalose for Heat and Cold Stress in Plants

Trehalose for Drought & Water Stress in Plants

References & further reading

[1] Canying Li, Lei Sun, Jie Zhu, Yuan Cheng, Rui Huang, Yiting Fan, Mi Guo, and Yonghong Ge. 2022. “Trehalose Maintains the Quality of Malus domestica by Mediating Sucrose and Respiratory Metabolism.” Scientia Horticulturae295: 110857. DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110857.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110857

[2] Thanakorn Vichaiya, Bualuang Faiyue, Siriphorn Rotarayanont, Jamnong Uthaibutra, and Kobkiat Saengnil. 2022. “Exogenous Trehalose Alleviates Chilling Injury of ‘Kim Ju’ Guava by Modulating Soluble Sugar and Energy Metabolisms.” Scientia Horticulturae 301: 111138. DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2022.111138.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2022.111138

[3] Thanakorn Vichaiya, Sitthisak Intarasit, Kamolchanok Umnajkitikorn, Siriphorn Jangsutthivorawat, and Kobkiat Saengnil. 2023. “Postharvest Trehalose Application Alleviates Chilling Injury of Cold Storage Guava through Upregulation of SnRK1 and Energy Charge.” Scientia Horticulturae 313: 111898. DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2023.111898.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2023.111898

[4] Xingxing Wang, Yingying Wei, Shu Jiang, Jianfen Ye, Yi Chen, Feng Xu, and Xingfeng Shao. 2024. “Transcriptome Analysis Reveals That Trehalose Alleviates Chilling Injury of Peach Fruit by Regulating ROS Signaling Pathway and Enhancing Antioxidant Capacity.” Food Research International 186: 114331. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114331.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114331

[5] Feng Ding and Ruiming Wang. 2018. “Amelioration of Postharvest Chilling Stress by Trehalose in Pepper.” Scientia Horticulturae 232: 52–56. DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2017.12.053.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2017.12.053

[6] Gangshuai Liu, Shiqi Liu, Jialiang Liu, Yue Xiang, Lisha Zhu, Xiangbin Xu, and Zhengke Zhang. 2025. “Trehalose Delays Postharvest Browning of Litchi Fruit by Regulating Antioxidant Capacity, Anthocyanin Synthesis and Energy Status.” Postharvest Biology and Technology 219: 113249. DOI: 10.1016/j.postharvbio.2024.113249.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2024.113249

[7] Tingting Fan, Minghui Xia, Junxuan Cao, Jing Zhang, T. Wang, and S. Cao. 2023. “Trehalose Regulates the Quality and Antioxidant Capacity of Cherry Tomato during Postharvest Ripening.” International Food Research Journal 30, no. 4: 933–944. DOI: 10.47836/ifrj.30.4.11.
https://doi.org/10.47836/ifrj.30.4.11

[8] Yuanzhi Li, Rui Zhang, Xiaoya Zhou, Nazir Ahmed, Yongkang Nong, and Haifeng Jia. 2026. “Trehalose Improves Postharvest Kyoho Grapes Quality Based on Transcriptome and Metabolome Analysis.” Journal of Food Safety 46, no. 1: e70057. DOI: 10.1111/jfs.70057.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfs.70057