Hypobaric treatment combined with nitric oxide fumigation preserves apricot fruit quality during storage: From laboratory optimisation to pilot-scale evaluation

Apricots are susceptible to rapid postharvest softening and decay, and scalable preservation technologies remain limited. This study developed a multifunctional hypobaric nitric oxide fumigation (HYT-NO) device with controlled pressure, temperature, humidity, and fumigant dosing, and evaluated its performance from laboratory to pilot scale. Equipment tests showed stable pressure control, improved NO penetration into apricot flesh, and shorter fumigation time under hypobaric conditions. Using ‘Xiaobai’ apricot fruit, single-factor experiments and response surface methodology identified 40 μL L −1 NO, 50 kPa, and 45 min as the selected treatment conditions. In laboratory storage trials, HYT-NO treatment maintained antioxidant capacity, limited reactive oxygen species accumulation and membrane lipid peroxidation, and slowed quality deterioration. In a pilot-scale trial, the treatment maintained firmness, soluble solids content, and titratable acidity and reduced decay by 26 % relative to the control. Fruit NO content varied little among the sampled chamber positions. These results indicate preliminary proof‑of‑concept feasibility at pilot scale. Nevertheless, further work is needed to evaluate real‑world commercial performance, including post‑storage shelf‑life, consumer acceptability, full‑cycle operational costs, processing throughput, and multi‑season reproducibility.