Abstract
An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different postharvest treatments on maintaining quality and shelf life of sweet orange from Feb-Apr 2019 under completely randomized (CRD) with four replications and five treatments (T1= Aloe vera gel @100%, T2= Paraffin wax @100%, T3= Corn Starch @4%, T4=Tragacanth Gum @4%, T1=Control i.e. untreated fruits) at ambient room condition (15.15±0.33oC, 58.16±1.69% RH). The parameters recorded were Physiological loss in weight (PLW), total soluble solid(TSS), titratable acidity(TA), Shrinkage, Juice content, Marketability, Disease Incidence and Shelf life in every 5 days’ interval till 40th day. Minimum percentage of PLW was observed in the fruits treated with paraffin wax (5.83% in 40th day) which was statistically at par with the findings of all other coated fruits. Corn starch showed minimum shrinkage (4.27%) which was statistically at par with Paraffin wax (100%) and tragacanth gum (4%). Wax treated fruits recorded the maximum juice recovery percentage (31.43%) whereas the minimum juice recovery percentage (27.81%) was observed in control fruits. The control fruits (untreated) showed the maximum TSS (15.03o brix) which was statistically at par with Aloe Vera and Corn starch. Higher acidity was found in the fruits treated with Aloe Vera (100%) (0.917) which was statistically par with corn starch (4%) and tragacanth gum (4%). The marketability value of tragacanth gum treated fruits was reported to be maximum (4.445). Minimum disease index (2.25) was observed in the fruits treated with tragacanth gum which was statistically at par with Aloe vera gel and corn starch treated fruits whereas postharvest life was found maximum (69 Days) in fruits treated with Aloe vera (100%) while it was only 46 in control fruits.
Highlights
Citrus is the important cash crop for farmers of the hill region of Nepal
The physiological loss in weight (PLW) was significantly increased in all the treatments with the advancement of the storage period and the increasing trend in the weight loss percentage was found the maximum in control upto 40 days of storage
Minimum percentage of Physiological loss in weight (PLW) was observed in the fruits treated with paraffin wax during the whole storage period and the losses ranged from 0.904% in 5th day to 5.83% in 40th day which was statistically par with the findings of all other coated fruits during the storage whereas the maximum weight loss was recorded in the fruits untreated as control (1.141% to 7.41%)
Summary
The total area under citrus, production and productivity of citrus includes 22423 hectares, 130928 metric tons and 10.4 ton/hectare (Budathoki et al, 2004). Sweet orange is the second both in terms of production and area coverage. Sweet orange is grown in 49 districts of Nepal, but the districts having significant amounts of its production are Sindhuli, and Ramechhap. These two districts are well known for commercial Sweet orange production. The total productive area and production of Sweet Orange in Sindhuli is 623 ha and 7127mt. The post-harvest losses of citrus including sweet orange are reported to be as high as 29 percent (Kaini, 2013). The post-harvest losses in fruits vary widely from 10 percent to 80 percent in both developed and developing countries (James et al, 2018)
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