BACKGROUND The postharvest application of pectic‐oligosaccharides (POS) as an elicitor to improve the postharvest shelf‐life and nutritional quality by stimulating natural defense mechanisms in strawberries was studied. Strawberries (cv. Festival) were treated with POS (at 0, 2, 5, and 9 g L−1) and evaluated for firmness, weight loss, color, soluble solids, titratable acidity (TA), total phenolic and anthocyanin content, antioxidant capacity, decay, and some defense‐related enzyme activity during storage at 2 ± 0.5 °C for 14 days. RESULTS Treatment with POS significantly delayed (P < 0.05) strawberry decay, and reduced the water loss and softening of fruit during storage. Strawberries treated with POS showed a significant increase in total phenolic and anthocyanin content, and antioxidant capacity when compared with controls. Interestingly, POS induced higher activity of phenylalanine ammonia‐lyase (PAL), chitinase, and β‐1,3‐glucanase in strawberries. Compared to the control, the activity of enzymes was markedly increased in fruit treated with all tested POS concentrations, particularly chitinase, and β‐1,3‐glucanase activities, but 5 and 9 g L−1 POS were the most effective treatments for maintaining the quality attributes and improving anthocyanin accumulation and antioxidant capacity of strawberries. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that POS treatment could potentially be applied to maintain quality attributes, reduce decay, and further enrich the anthocyanin content and antioxidant capacity of strawberries during postharvest storage. The results also suggest that the positive effects of POS on strawberries could be associated with the rapid accumulation of chitinase and β‐1,3‐glucanase activities, and the increase of PAL enzyme activity leading to the synthesis and accumulation of anthocyanins. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry