"Gialla" first crop cactus pear fruits, harvested at the end of August, received a postharvest application of a low-O2atmosphere (1% O2+ 99% N2for 1 hour within 250-liter containers, that were then ermetically sealed for 24 hours. After the treatment fruits were stored at 6°C and 90% of relative humidity (RH) for 3 or 6 weeks, plus 1 week of shelf-life conditions at 20°C and 7%, RH following each storage period to simulate market conditions. Prestorage anaerobic application reduced, but not consistently, chilling unjury (CI) simptoms both during storage and shelf-life, while overall appearance of treated fruits was quite similar to not exposed ones. Contrary to what expected, electrolite leakage was slightly higher in N2-treated fruits. Anaerobic treatment permitted to reduce weight loss significantly, but only at the end of each cold storage period. Respiration rate was not influenced by the low-O2treatment as well as chemical parameters, with the exception of ascorbic acid content, always higher in exposed fruits if compared to those not treated. Taste of the fruit was not negatively affected by the N2exposition. Although the prestorage anaerobic treatment of this study was not as beneficial in reducing CI as in other fruit species, further attempts could permit to find the optimum combination N2concentration-exposure time.