Blood oranges (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) fruit contain valuable compounds for human health, including anthocyanins, flavonoids, polyphenols, hydroxycinnamic acids, and ascorbic acid. Anthocyanin is considered an important internal quality index of blood oranges due to its red color and antioxidant activity. Blood orange pigmentation under similar growing conditions depends on some factors including cultivar, cultural practices, soil characteristics, climate conditions, maturity, and harvest maturity. Blood orange fruit require cold temperatures between 8 °C to 15 °C during the last ripening stages to develop high levels of anthocyanin in their flesh. However, commercial production of blood oranges in subtropical or tropical regions is limited due to very low or lack of cold temperatures to enhance anthocyanin concentration in fruit. We evaluated the effect of different storage temperatures (10, 15, and 20 °C) on anthocyanin enhancement and the antioxidant activity of ‘Moro’ blood orange for 42 days. Fruit were harvested from a commercial citrus orchard in south Georgia and transported to the postharvest lab in Gainesville, Florida. Fruit were checked for absence of defects andr rind injuries, sanitized with 100 ppm sodium hypochlorite solution, and superficial water removed from the fruit surface. The fruit were then divided into sets of four replicates of 10 fruit per treatment and placed in mesh bags for storage at 10, 15, or 20 °C with 90 % relative humidity. Anthocyanin accumulation and antioxidant activity in the flesh were evaluated every 14 days for 42 days. There were significant differences among the applied storage temperatures for anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity. The highest anthocyanin concentration and antioxidant activity were observed at 10 °C, while the lowest anthocyanin level was at 20 °C for all sampling times. The efficiency of these temperatures in enhancing flesh anthocyanin and antioxidant activity was in the following order: 10 °C > 15 °C > 20 °C at all sampling times. Overall, it can be concluded that cold storage can be used as a simple technology for enhancing bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in blood oranges that are poorly pigmented at harvest in subtropical or tropical climates like Florida.
