Effect of post-harvest treatments of gum arabic, calcium lactate and glycerin on biochemical constituents of kinnow

Abstract

‘Kinnow’ mandarin is an attractive and nutritious fruit available only for a short period due to its perishable nature. In the present study, the effect of different postharvest treatments and storage conditions on the post-harvest quality of ‘kinnow’ up to 49 days was examined. There was no decay loss observed up to 21st day of storage after that decay loss increased up to 49th day of storage in all treatments at all periods of storage. All coatings were effective to check the decay loss and minimum decay loss was observed in calcium lactate 3% + glycerin 2.5% up to 42 days of storage, whereas on 49th day glycerin 2.5% was most effective to decrease the decay loss. With progression of the storage period, acidity, specific gravity and juice content decreased. Maximum acidity, juice content and specific gravity were observed in fruits coated with gum arabic 10%. All coatings were effective to maintain the quality of the kinnow fruits. However, gum arabic 10% coating was the most effective to minimize the decay loss and maintained the acidity, specific gravity and juice content at all periods of storage.