Tropical fruits cannot be stored at low temperatures due to the chilling injury phenomena. With the goal of reducing the chilling injury, we tested 10(-4) and 10(-5) M of methyl jasmonate (MJ) treatment before the storage of red and white cultivars. of guava fruits at 5degreesC for up to 15 days plus two days at 20degreesC. Every five days, we evaluated chilling injury index, ion leakage percentage, vitamin C, sugars, total phenols, and the activity of the enzymes lipoxygenase (LOX) and phenylalanine-ammonia lyase (PAL). We found that methyl jasmonate treatments reduce the chilling injury index and the ion leakage percentage. Furthermore, MJ did not affect vitamin C, chlorophyll, and total phenols. MJ increased sugar content, PAL, and LOX activities. We concluded that MJ reduces chilling injury and activates the fruit defense response as indicated by the behavior of total phenols and the increase in sugar content, PAL, and LOX activities. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.