The long-term low temperature storage of pepper fruit is currently risky because of the likelihood of
chilling injury (CI), which reduces shelf-life. Intermittent warming (IW) has been proposed as a potential
solution to enhance successful long-term pepper fruit storage. To understand the influence of IW in
alleviating CI in peppers, the effects of 3 IW cycles were tested on the organic acid content, firmness, and
relative enzyme content of pepper fruit (namely, 1–3 IW cycles to 20 C for 24 h every 7 days for fruit
stored at 4 C for 27 days). Subsequently, the effects of 2 IW cycles were tested on the organizational
structure of pepper fruit cells and potential odor changes. The results showed that IW effectively reduces
the CI index and maintains pepper firmness. Following 2 IW cycles after 6 and 13 days storage, pepper
integrity was retained, with no shrinkage or decay. Furthermore, partial least squares analysis of odor
changes showed that both 1 IW cycle after 20 days storage and 2 IW cycles after 6 and 13 days storage
extended storage time to over 10 days. The appropriate IW cycles effectively delay the decline in
unsaturated fatty acid content and maintain a higher index of unsaturated fatty acids (IUFA), which helps
retain the integrity of the pepper cell membranes