Effect of pre and post harvest calcium treatment on fruit quality in guava cv. Allahabad Safeda during ambient storage
J.S. Bal and S.S. Chahal
Proceedings of 26th International Horticultural Congress. Volume of Abstract . Toronto, Canada, 11-17 August, 2002. Abstract S09-P-12. pp. 231-232.
2002
บทคัดย่อ
Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is a very nutritious fruit know for its ascorbic acid content but which is beset with the problem of poor shelf life.In India, the fruits are ton be marketed at ambient conditions as the cold chain system has not been fully developed.Therefore it is imperative to develop an alternative, inexpensive and simple technique in order to retain the quality of the fruits during marketing.The present study is an attempt to assess the effect of calcium infiltration, both at pre and postharvest levels, during the fruiting years 1999 and 2000 on winter crops of guava cv. Safeda.The experiment consisted of pre-harvest treatments of CaCl2 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%, Ca (NO3)21.0, 1.5 and 20% applied20 days before harvest and postharvest treatments of CaCl2 2.0,3.0 and 4.0 and Ca (NO3)22.0,3.0 and 4.0%.Tepol was used as surfactants.The fruits of all the treatment were packed in CFB boxes, kept at room temperature and physicochemical evaluations were done at 2 day intervals. CaCl2 treated fruit were significantly better at harvest.. CaCl2(3%) as post harvest treatment extended the shelf life of guava by ten days.The treated fruits exhibited low weight losses during storage and remained fresh and firm with little spoilage.The quality in terms of ascorbic acid was also better during room storage for 10 days. CaCl2(2%)as pre-harvest treatment was the second best treatment in retaining the high quality of fruits at harvest and during ambient storage for 10 days.