Spoilage Percentage Research Articles

Endogenous plant metabolites influence on shelf-life extension of tuberose flowers

Tuberose is highly valuable for making floral ornaments, bouquets, artistic garlands, button holes and essential oil. The present study aimed to increase the shelf life of loose flowers by the exogenous application of endogenous plant metabolites i.e. polyamines-putrescine and spermidine at 15 and 20 mg each and with two controls (with/ without packaging). The polyamine-dipped tuberose florets were packed in polyethylene zip covers (56 microns thickness & 1% ventilation), and stored at room temperature (32±1oC and 65 ± 3% RH). Results revealed that putrescine (20 mg) and spermidine (20 mg) treated florets had reduced physiological loss in weight and spoilage percentage with delayed flower opening, and higher sensory acceptance when compared to other treatments and also extended vase life (4 days). The shelf life of untreated flowers without a package was just on the harvested day. Thus, the exogenous application of polyamines had a synergic effect on the shelf life of tuberose loose flowers and can be effectively utilized in the supply chain of tuberose.

Effect of Different Coatings on the Quality and Shelf Life of Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana)

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of post- harvest application of different edible coatings like Aloe vera gel (1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0%), Chitosan (1.0%, 2.0%,3.0%), Guar gum (1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0%) on shelf life and quality of ber (Ziziphus mauritiana L) cv. Apple ber. Fruits of uniform size were harvested at physiological maturity and treated with various edible coatings. After five days of storage, observations on fruit length, diameter spoilage percentage, TSS, total sugar, reducing sugar, acidity, and ascorbic acid were made. In comparison to the fruits under control, the results showed that coating the fruits led to a lower loss of fruit weight and a higher level of ascorbic acid content, TSS, acidity, total sugar, and decreasing sugar. Guar gum (3%) proved to be the most efficient coating, extending the shelf life of ber by up to 15 days. The fruits that were under control hardly lasted for ten days.

Reduction of Citrus Fruit Fungal Rot Disease using the Commercial Bio-Agent Bacillus subtilis

The results of the laboratory experiment on PDA media showed that B. subtilis at all concentrations (0.1ml, 0.5ml, 1ml/plate) led to a significant reduction in the fungal growth of the two pathogenic fungi, P. polonicum and G. candidum, with an inhibition rate that increased with increasing concentration. The effect of B. subtilis on the growth of P. polonicum was higher than that of G. candidum. In the experiment of storing fruits under natural conditions, the results showed the significant effect of B. subtilis in reducing the severity of infection in injured (artificially wounded) citrus fruits (orange, lemon, sour orange) when treated with the spore suspension of G.candidum and P. polonicum, compared to the significantly higher infection severity in the absence of the biological agent B. subtilis. The percentage of spoilage (reduction of the final fruit weight) increased in the fruits due to infection after 7 days of storage in the spore suspension treatments of G. candidum in oranges, especially in the wounded fruits compared to the normal, uninjured fruits. The same is the case with lemon and orange, as it was observed, in general, that the percentage of weight reduction in wounded fruits increased even in the control treatments than in the normal (uninjured) fruits, while the presence of bacteria B. subtilis reduced the spoilage to normal limits that did not differ from the final fruit weight in the control treatment.

Postharvest application of Aloe vera gel and thymol enhances shelf-life of duke cherries via altering physiochemical parameters

BackgroundDuke cherry is a non-climacteric fruit but deteriorates quickly during storage due to thin pericarp and succulent fruit tissue. The application of edible coatings, essential oils, or their combination is an appropriate technique to maintain the quality characteristics and reduce the deterioration of fruits during storage. This research assessed the effect of Aloe vera gel (AVG), thymol, and their combined use on the physicochemical and qualitative properties of duke cherries kept at 5 °C and 80% relative humidity for 28 d.ResultsCompared to the uncoated fruits, duke cherries coated with a combination of AVG and thymol, showed more values of firmness (12.76–100.32%), total phenol (9.99–45.09%), antioxidant activity (7.90–84.56%), and sensory scores(50.15–100.00%), as well as the activity of guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) (12.03–185.11%) and catalase (CAT) (10.20–243.66%) enzymes during cold storage. Moreover, duke cherries coated with a combination of AVG and thymol had remarkably lower values of weight loss (32.57–42.67%), respiration rate (34.96–49.78%), stem browning (24.50–50.53%), spoilage percentage (84.55–100%), anthocyanin (14.21–23.16%), and total soluble solids/titratable acidity (TSS/TA) (35.64–50.15%), as well as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (16.66–32.35%) and malondialdehyde (MDA) (15.23–31.05%).ConclusionThe application of AVG and thymol, particularly their combination, can have a high practical potential to extend shelf-life and preserve the quality of duke cherries during cold storage. This treatment has various advantages including natural, edible, cost-effective, and efficient.Graphical

Application the Kanban Cards and the Value Stream Map (Vsm) to Rationalize Inventory Costs and to Improve The Company's Performance and Oversight Applied Research in Electrical Cables Factory / Ur State Company For Electrical Industries

Purpose: This research aims to try to application the two cards (kanban) system and the value stream map in the electrical cables factory in the Ur Company for Electrical Industries, with the intention of rationalizing the storage costs and improving the production, marketing and warehouse process to get rid of waste, and loss in time and cost. Theoretical framework: This research problem emerged due to the lack of The factory application of these systems that work to solve the problem of storage accumulation as well as improving the progress of the production process, and the research hypothesis has proven that it is possible to apply the Kanban system and the value stream map in the plant under discussion. Design/methodology/approach: The research showed the most important conclusions, including stock accumulation of various types, reduction of inventory, improvement of work flow, improvement in response to changes in customer requests, reduction of risk of obsolescence of inventory, reduction of the percentage of spoilage from (3%) to (2%), and rationalization of total production inventory from 858 tons [26 tons × 31 days] to 806 tons [ 26 tons x 33 days]. Findings: application the two cards (kanban) system and the value stream map in the electrical cables factory in the Ur Company for Electrical Industries The improvement in the current status of the Value Stream map, to the future status was carried out according to the Kaizen Burst (continuous improvements). As for the most important recommendations, Research, Practical & Social implications: The improvement in the current status of the Value Stream map, to the future status was carried out according to the Kaizen Burst (continuous improvements). Originality/value: This study is one of the very few studies that focus on the concept of cards (kanban) system and the value stream map it was necessary to implement the Kanban and value map system in the Cables electric plant, activating the state of transparency in the production and marketing work and facilitating the work The administrator and the need to open communication channels between the administration and workers to take advantage of the proposed views, reconsider the incentive system and link it to performance and to encourage workers to excel and drive innovation and creativity.

Reducing the Losses of Three Local Grape Varieties (Vitis vinifera L.) by Cool Storage Period.

Three local varieties of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. Jnoby, Sulaimana- Rash and Zaitony); were taken from a private vineyard in Sian village, Dinarta, Duhok, Kurdistan region-Iraq after the distinctive signs of maturity appeared for each variety from healthy grapevines of 6-years old which planted at 2×3 m spacing and irrigated by drip irrigation system for study the effect of storage periods (0, 20, 40 and 60 days at 2±1 °C and 83-88% RH) on chemical and physical characteristics plus the loss of grape berries and clusters. The vines received conventional cultivation practices with regular winter and summer pruning, weed and diseases control. Berry shattering, spoilage, weight loss, total loss and rachis condition for the varieties were estimated as a function to storage in this study. Results showed that the maximum berry shattering (1.71%) was recorded in Sulaimana-Rash variety showing a significant difference with Jnoby variety (0.48%). The highest values of percent spoilage and total loss were recorded in variety Zaitony (20.17 and 26.36%) respectively. The maximum weight loss (10.24 %) was recorded in variety Jnoby which was significantly higher than the other two varieties (Sulaimana-Rash and Zaitony). Spoilage percentage, weight loss and total loss significantly increased with increasing storage periods (23.48, 12.13 and 32.83%) respectively. There were significant interaction effects on weight loss and total weight loss percentages among the varieties, the storage periods showed a maximum value was started after 60 days of the beginning of storage (14.33%) in Jnoby variety, while highest total loss (60.25%) was recorded in Zaitony.

Efficacy of PLANT TONIC9 (EOX-SOV) against certain plant pathogenic fungi

In this study, PLANT TONIC9 (EOX-SOV) was screened for its in vitro efficacy against some fungal species. PLANT TONIC9 significantly inhibited the mycelial growth and conidial germination of all tested species as compared with untreated control. The highest mycelial growth and conidial germination inhibition percentage was recorded for Monilinia species while the lowest inhibition percentage was recorded for Rosellinia sp. The lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value was observed against Monilinia fructigena and Monilinia fructicola followed by Monilinia laxa and Botrytis cinerea. Also the in vivo efficacy of PLANT TONIC9 against M. laxa was investigated. Application of PLANT TONIC9 significantly reduced the severity and incidence of brown rot disease on apple as compared with the control. PLANT TONIC9 treatments were also successful to retain the size, specific gravity, and shelf life of tested fruits and to decrease their spoilage percentage over the experimental period as compared with the control.

Effect of Different Coloured Plastics and Liners on Shelf Life of Loose Marigold Flowers

A study was carried to evaluate the effect of different coloured plastics and liners on shelf-life of loose marigold flower under ambient condition was at the laboratory of the Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, during the year 2021–2022. The experiment was laid out in Complete Randomized Design with 3 replication and 16 treatments. The treatment comprised of different coloured plastics (Red, Opaque, Transparent and Green) and liners (Paper cutting, Paper straw and Bubble film) in different combination including control. The results revealed that among all the combination of different coloured plastics and different liners used treatment T7 (Transparent + Paddy straw) showed better quality in all parameters like physiological weight loss(2.26%, 34.20% and 47.10%), moisture content(82.33%,71.72% and55.01%), spoilage percentage(5.10%,12.37% and 25.19%), diameter of flower (5.81cm, 5.09cmand 4.40 cm), freshness index(4.68, 3.98 and 3.11 out of 5 score card), relative water content(83.00%,74.00% and 55.66%), shelf life(2.35 days) at 2nd, 4th and 6th days after storage respectively. When the spoilage of flower exceeded 50 percent, it was considered as the end of shelf life or storage life.

Artificially Intelligent Food Assistant for the Visually Impaired

Vision disability is a prevalent condition that affects the lives of many adults and children. Previous research has established that it is harder for the visually impaired to evaluate the nutritional value of food. Therefore, by applying concepts used in agriculture and optical character recognition, we engineered a system that can make these perceptual evaluations on a variety of fresh and packaged foods and linguistically relay that info to a visually impaired user. We utilized some of the most memory-cheap and accurate object detection models to evaluate and then detect lesions in peaches, apples, tomatoes, and strawberries. Table 3 shows that our models performed with high accuracy as EffecientDet d0, SSD Lite Mobilenet, and Faster RCNN MobileNet all had higher than 40% mAP and 50% mAR. Figure 2 portrays how our interface was able to detect, determine, and relay surface spoilage percentage(s) to a user. Figure 3 shows that our OCR integration successfully was able to gather nutritional data on packaged goods and relay nutritional information to a user. Our system provides the brain for future applications that plan to deploy our code to devices like smart glasses or other hardware. We have made our source code available on GitHub through this link: https://github.com/SarthakJaingit/Artificially-Intelligent-Food-Assistant-for-the-Visually-Impaired. Our repository provides instructions about running our system through the command line and also a notebook demo that a less technical person can run to see how one of our models performs on a computer webcam with no video optimization.

Мікробіологічні показники плодів вишні за попередньої обробки полісахаридними композиціями

The main cause of diseases of juicy fruit storage are microscopic fungi. To limit the development of phytopathogenic fungi on fruits, the most important is the organization of control against them during the growing season. In order to improve the appearance of fruits and delay their spoilage, after harvesting often use the application of an artificial layer on their surface. Substances such as methyl jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, chitosan, alginate are inducers of systemic acquired plant resistance to disease and are also sometimes used to protect fruits from storage diseases. The aim of the study was to study the effect of processing polysaccharide compositions on the microflora of cherry fruits after storage. The research was conducted during 2016−2019 on the basis of the research station of pomology named after LP Symyrenko IS NAAS with cherries of Alfa varieties, which were sprayed with a solution of 100 mg/l of salicylic acid the day before harvest; 1% chitosan with salicylic acid (100 mg/l). Also, the selected fruits were washed with water and immersed in 5% sodium alginate solutions for 1−2 minutes, according to the options: without treatment (control) and treated with sodium alginate solutions of 5% concentration. After that, the fruits were dried for 30 min by blowing with air created artificially by a fan at 25 ° C, packaged and stored at a temperature of 1±0.5°C and a relative humidity of 95±1%. Microbiological control was carried out according to the standards: the number of mesophilic aerobic and optionally anaerobic microorganisms according to GOST 10444.15; molds and yeasts according to GOST 10444.12. After storage, the amount of epiphytic microflora of fruits increased to 1.3 ∙ 103 CFU/g. Spraying cherry fruits with a solution of chitosan with salicylic acid made it possible to reduce the growth rate of MAFANM by 5.2 times compared to the control. Treatment of cherry fruits with sodium alginate helped to reduce the number of epiphytic microflora by 4.2 times. Pre-treatment of cherries before storage helped to stop the growth of yeast and the appearance of mold. In the control version, their number was at the level of 1.26 ∙ 103 CFU / g. In the experimental variants, it decreased by 3.7–6.3 times. The smallest amount remained in cherry fruits treated with a solution of chitosan with salicylic acid. Given the high percentage of spoilage of fruits after harvest, transportation and storage, the prospect of further research will be to continue research on the use of post-harvest treatment of fruits with polysaccharide compositions on their microflora during storage.

Effectiveness of Different Storage Conditions and Sanitizers of the Post Harvest Performance of Sweet Pepper (Capsicum annum L.) in Chitwan District, Nepal

To investigate the effectiveness of different Storage conditions and Sanitizer treatments on the postharvest performance of the fruits of Sweet pepper var. California Wonder, an experiment was laid out in two factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Fruits subjected to Sanitizer treatments viz Sodium hypochlorite @ 0.02%, Calcinated calcium @ 0.1%, Neem extract @10%, Aloe vera @10% and Control were stored under Evaporative Cooling (EC) and Ambient conditions. Observations were recorded for Physiological loss in weight (PLW), Total soluble solid (TSS), Titratable acidity (TA), Vitamin C, Spoilage percentage and Shelf life of the fruits. At the end of the shelf life, the main effects of Storage conditions and Sanitizers were found significant for PLW, Spoilage percentage, TSS, Vitamin C and Shelf life. The lowest PLW (13.19%) was observed in the fruits stored in EC condition compared to the fruits kept in Ambient storage (21.61%). EC storage showed the lowest Spoilage percentage (41.1%), the longest Shelf life (13.8 days), the highest TSS (3.16°Brix) and Vitamin C (53.7 mg/100g). Among the Sanitizers, the lowest PLW (14.69%) and Spoilage percentage (37.5%) were recorded in the treatment of Sodium hypochlorite followed by Aloe vera solution. Likewise, the highest TSS (3.63°Brix), Vitamin C (52.8 mg/100 g) and the longest Shelf life (13.33 days) were recorded under the treatment of Aloe vera solution. The treatment combination of EC storage and Sodium hypochlorite exhibited the lowest PLW on 9th day (11.05%) of storage. The results suggest that the postharvest quality and shelf life of sweet pepper can be extended by storing the sweet pepper fruits in energy efficient EC storage after the application of Sanitizers viz. Sodium hypochlorite and Aloe vera.

Effect of GA<sub>3</sub> and NAA on fruit quality and storage characteristics of fruit in sapota cv. Kalipatti

The investigation was conducted at Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Dapoli (M.S.) during 2017-19 to study the effect of GA3 and NAA on fruit quality and storage in sapota cv. Kalipatti. The application of GA3 150 ppm resulted in significantly maximum fruit length (6.16 cm),fruit diameter (5.81 cm),fruit weight (146.17 g),volume of fruit(138.77 cm³),specific gravity of fruit (1.05), pulp weight (138.00 g),pulp/seed ratio (99.28). The significantly maximum fruit TSS (25.10 0B),TSS/acidity ratio (192.60),reducing sugars (11.58%),non-reducing sugars(5.65%),total sugars (17.23%) and minimum titratable acidity of fruit(0.13%) were in fruits of GA3 150 ppm treatment. The GA3 150 ppm treatment resulted in significantly minimum PLW% on 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th day of storage of fruits (i.e. 3.11%, 6.29%, 9.98%, 11.55% and 28.43% respectively), shrivelling and/or spoilage percentage on 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th day of storage of fruits (i.e. 0%, 5.33%, 9.33% and 18.67% respectively) and maximum shelf life (8.67 days).

ON THE QUALITY OF FRESH TABLE GRAPES

Each year, out of more than 350 thousand tons of grapes entering the industrial centers of Russia, a part of the production turns out to be non-standard due to a high percentage of spoilage of berries en route, especially grapes of own production, and a significant part of the harvested and harvested crop does not reach the consumer due to quality loss and presentation in the period of transportation. The aim of the research was to evaluate the quality of fresh table grapes sold in retail chains of the city of Chelyabinsk. It is established that the quality of fresh table grapes sold in the shops of the Molniya trade network was at a higher level. So, samples of grapes «Victoria» corresponded to the requirements of the highest commodity grade, the sample of grapes «Kishmish Zhemchuzhina» - the first grade. The presence of bunches with decayed berries in the grapes «White Miracle» allowed him to refer it to «waste». Table grapes sold in stores «Magnet», was less competitive. Thus, in the samples of the «Julian» grapes, a significant (2.9 %) content of crumbled berries was found, in the samples of «Taifi» grapes - bunches with cracked berries (1.7 %). Grapes «Julian» additionally determined a relatively high percentage (6.8 %) of non-integer grapes. Also found are copies of grape bunches with decayed and crushed berries, which is not allowed by regulated requirements. The revealed necessity of additional pre-sale preparation and sorting of fresh table grapes sold in chain stores will allow to increase not only the quality and safety of products, customer service culture, but also extend the shelf life of commodity lots, increase turnover and sales of fresh products in general.

Characteristics of Compact Food bars

Compact FoodBars (CFB) are part of the diets that are named according to the purpose of use, Meal Ready-to-Eat (MRE) used during the maneuvers and military operations, Emergency Food Product (EFP) used in emergencies and crises such as natural disasters and warfare leading to the promotion of crisis management, and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) used for therapeutic purposes in malnourished individuals and AIDS patients. Some of the characteristics of CFB include high nutritional value, high nutrient content, high energy density, no need for preparation, ready to use, long lasting, low spoilage percentage due to low moisture content, low volume and weight and ease of transportation and distribution. The energy level, the type and amount of fat, protein, carbohydrates, fiber and micronutrients should be taken into account in the formulation of CFB . The main ingredients of these diets consist of cereal, skim milk, soy and its products, vegetable oil, sugar and plant nutrients. The products based on this purposes are very valuable to people in these circumstances. In fact, it should be noted that victims of war and natural disasters will have a new chance to live by eating the CFB . Therefore, it is essential to check and plan for the production of Compact Foodwith the described characteristics.

Effect of preharvest application of chemicals and plant growth regulators on physical parameters and shelf-life of custard apple (Annona squamosa L.)

The three varieties of custard apple were subjected to various preharvest chemicals and plant growth regulators treatments, viz., CaCl 2 @ 2%, KNO 3 @ 2%, GA 3 @ 50 mg/l, NAA @ 50 mg/l and no spray. Then mature, uniformed sizes fruit were harvested and observation were recorded under ambient storage condition. Balanagar recorded maximum fruit weight (180.32 g), volume (109.42 cc) and pulp weight per fruit (90.52 g) while minimum peel weight per fruit (53.87 g) and seed weight per fruit (10.43 g) recorded in Local variety at harvest. GA 3 @ 50 mg/l were found to best since they have maximum fruit weight (159.60 g), volume (96.85 cc) and pulp weight per fruit (79.54 g) at harvest. In case of fruit diameter (7.39 cm, 7.09 cm) in both factors were recorded maximum at 3 rd day of storage. CaCl 2 @ 2% recorded minimum PLW (23.54% at 6 th day) and spoilage percentage (32.22%) and maximum fruit firmness (0.25 kg/cm 2 at 6 th day), shelf-life of fruits (7.25 days) and marketable fruit percentage (67.78%) during storage. Thus, it can be inferred from the study that Balanagar variety and GA 3 @ 50 mg/l rated as most acceptable and superior, over all the other treatments in term of physical parameters and in term of quality and shelf-life CaCl 2 @ 2% treatment observed during ambient storage.

Maintenance of quality attributes of cold stored Patharnakh pear through post-harvest application of antioxidant (Diphenylamine)

An investigation was carried out to observe the effects of antioxidant (diphenylamine) on cold storage behavior of Patharnakh pear. Fruits were harvested at proper maturity and treated with diphenylamine (0.05%, 0.1% and 0.15%) and were then stored in cold storage at 1–3°C temperature with 90–95% relative humidity (RH) for 45, 60, 75 and 90 days. After every storage interval, fruits were subjected to physical and biochemical analysis. Physiological loss in weight (PLW), spoilage percentage, core browning, total soluble solids (TSS) and reducing sugars increased with increase in storage time, while firmness and organoleptic rating decreased. Pear cv. treated diphenylamine (0.15%) had low rate of physiological loss in weight, spoilage losses, core browning and fruit colour degradation. Higher concentration of antioxidant (diphenylamine) also maintained higher fruit firmness, total soluble solids, reducing sugars and acidity throughout storage period.

Effect of storage methods on storability of bulbs of tuberose cv. SUVASINI

Tuberose bulbs must be stored for 6-8 weeks after harvest, sprouting occurs more readily when bulbs are stored at temperatures 18-23°C. Refrigerated cold storage is the best, requires huge capital. Storability of bulbs studied under different storage methods such as Gunny bags, Netted poly bags, Zero energy cool chamber and Heaping in open at room temperatures storage with seven pre treatments were studied. Bulbs collected from plots were treated with preharvest foliar application of GA 3 @250ppm stored in zero energy cool chamber was found as the best treatment combination based on minimum percentage of spoilage, sprouting and weight loss recorded after 60 days of storage. Based on economic analysis, bulbs collected from preharvest application of RDF 50 per cent in combination with poultry manure 25 per cent and neem cake 25 per cent stored in zero energy cool chamber was found to be highly profitable as it recorded high net returns and benefit cost ratio.

Influence of pre and post-harvest treatments on shelf life and fruit quality of mango (mangifera indicaL.) cv. Amrapali

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the response of various pre harvest (GA3 and thio-phenate methyl) treatments followed by post-harvest application (salicylic acid, 1-MCP and hot water) with the objective to find out the suitable treatments which could preserve physical, bio-chemical and organoleptic properties of Amrapali mango to the best possible extent. The physical parameters of fruits, viz., minimum PLW (14.65%), and spoilage percentage (28.895% up to 17th day) was recorded with T2 (GA3 + Thiophenate methyl+ hot-water dipping + 1-MCP dipping) closely followed by T1 (GA3 + Thiophenate methyl+ hot-water dipping+ salicylic acid). The chemical composition of the fruits, viz., minimum reduction in TSS (5.49°), maximum retention of acidity (.07828), were also recorded with the application of T2 (GA3 +Thiophenate methyl + hot-water dipping + 1-MCP dipping) closely followed by T1 (GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + hot-water dipping + salicylic acid) exept in acidity where T2 was same value as (GA3 + carbedazim +1-MCP + no hot water dipping) during 17 days of storage.

Effect of packing and storage on the shelf life and quality of ber cv. Umran

This study was carried out to extend the quality and shelf life of ber fruits by low-cost effective packaging materials. There were 48 treatment combinations consisting oftwo packing materials (Card Board Box; Polythene Net bag) three size of the retail packing units (250 g; 500 g; - 1 kg; - 2kg) and six storage periods (Initial; 2 days; 4 days; 6 days; 8 days; 10 days). The fruits of ber cultivar Umran were harvested at optimum maturity from Horticulture Research Centre, Patharchatta, Pantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand. Ber is one of the commercial fruit crops grown in the tropical and sub-tropical region. It is considered to be“poor man's apple” due to its high nutritional, medicinal value and low cost. Ber fruits have an advantage that fruits areavailable in market during lean period and to ensure remunerative prices to growers. However, the storage life of ber is extremely short, hardly 2–4 days at ambient conditions and thus early perishability of fruit poses a problem. Among the various packaging materials evaluated for packing of berfruits, cardboard boxes were found suitable and economically viable containers involving least cost ( 3.00). Although physico-chemical properties were concerned during 10 days storage, the maximum acidity and ascorbic acid along with minimum physiological loss in weight and spoilage percentage were found in cardboard boxes packed fruits. However, maximum physiological loss in weight, spoilage, TSS, total sugars of fruits were obtained in fruits packed in polythene netbags. Sensory scores for overall acceptability were better infruits packed in cardboard boxes. Therefore, storage of 100 kg ber fruits packed in cardboard boxes showed better quality as compared to polythene net bags under ambient storage. Economics computed showed feasibility as on a total input of Rs. 1363.32 and Rs. 3000 is earned as gross returns with a netreturn of Rs. 1637. 68 with 2.20 B: C ratio.

Effective ?-radiation Dose on Chitosan for Preservation of Mangoes (Mangifera indica)

The effective dose of ? radiation on chitosan for mango preservation was studies in this work. The 2% chitosan solution was irradiated with at various total doses (50-200 kGy). The mature green mangoes were soaked in un-irradiated and irradiated chitosan solutions and then they were stored at normal room temperature. The percentage of weight loss, color change and percentage of spoilage were observed for 15 days in control, un-irradiated and irradiated chitosan coated mangoes. The overall results showed the superiority of 50 kGy and 100 kGy irradiated chitosan in extending shelf life of mango as comared to control, un-irradiated and 120 kGy to 200 kGy irradiated chitosan. Jahangirnagar University Environmental Bulletin, Vol.2, 35-40, 2013 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jueb.v2i0.16328