Lenticel blotch as peel physiological disorder occurs in cold-stored apple fruit, characterized by irregular shape breakdown tissue without extending to the flesh. This study aimed to evaluate the postharvest treatment effects on fruit quality attributes, mineral nutrients, targeted metabolites, and incidence of lenticel blotch, and their relationship in cold stored ‘Summer Prince’ apple fruit. Fruits were harvested from 2 orchards, treated with postharvest 1-MCP, pre-storage ambient temperature delay for 7 days (ATC), and 1-MCP ATC at harvest and then stored at 0.5 °C for 5 months. There were significant differences in the organic matter content, nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N), and phosphoric acid contents in the soil. Calcium, manganese, copper, and zinc in leaf tissues were significantly different between 2 orchards. Lenticel blotch was effectively controlled by ATC treatment, while exacerbated by 1-MCP. Based on the results of VIP scores, histidine, valine, sucrose, K/Ca ratio, (K Mg P)/Ca ratio, total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids, ABTS, and DPPH were influenced by the postharvest treatments. In the results of volcano plot analysis, ATC treatment effectively controlled the symptoms and up-regulated in amino acids, such as valine, histidine, proline, and isoleucine. However, 1-MCP treatment caused to induce lenticel blotch by upregulating aspartic acid and glutamic acid. Therefore, the results indicated that pre-storage ambient temperature delay should control the lenticel blotch by mediating targeted metabolic alteration during cold storage.
