Abstract:To investigate the effects of nitric oxide （NO） on the storage quality of cherries， Van cherries were used to examine the impact of external NO donor sodium nitroprusside （SNP） solutions with concentrations of 0.2， 0.4， 0.6 mmol/L on the quality changes of cherries stored at 4 ℃ for 30 d. The results showed that the cherries treated with 0.4 mmol/L SNP exhibited the best storage quality after 30 d of storage. Compared with the control group， the weight loss rate decreased by 43.20%， and the hardness， color difference， as well as soluble solid content（SSC） increased by 52.60%， 18.83%， and 31.84% respectively. During the storage period， the 0.4 mmol/L SNP application significantly inhibited cherry skin browning， with polyphenol oxidase（PPO） activity decreasing by 61.39%. The total phenol content （TPC） of the cherries， as well as the activities of catalase （CAT） and peroxidase （POD）， increased by 177.50%， 53.05%， and 38.33% respectively. The accumulation of hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde was also inhibited of the 0.4 mmol/L SNP application，preserving the integrity of the cherry membrane tissue structure. All indicators of the 0.4 mmol/L SNP application were significantly better than those of the control group （P＜0.05）， indicating that the 0.4 mmol/L SNP application can delay the aging of cherry fruits after harvest， effectively extending their storage period. This application demonstrated a good preservation effect on cherry post-harvest storage.