Effect of Post Harvest Treatments for Enhancing Shelf Life of 'Litchi' (Litchi chinensis Sonn.)

Ramandeep Kaur, Gurpreet Singh, Deepika Saxena, Gurpreet Singh
2018 International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences  
A Laboratory experiment was conducted to study the "Effect of Post harvest treatments for enhancing shelf life of "Litchi" (Litchi chinensis Sonn.)" at the experimental Laboratory, School of Agriculture, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara during summer season of 2017-18. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. There were eight treatments used in which one control and remaining treatments consist Chitosan (1%), Ascorbic Acid (5%),
more » ... c Acid (10%), Citric Acid (5%), Citric Acid (10%), Oxalic Acid (5%) and Oxalic Acid (10%). The Fruits were dipped in different solution of these chemicals. The physical and chemical parameters of fruits were collected at 1 st , 3 rd , 5 th and 7 th day at room temperature. The fruits were spoiled after 7 th day at room temperature. Post harvest storage studies revealed that under ambient and cold storage conditions chitosan 1% treatment showed slower rate of reduction on size of fruits, weight and fruit volume and were significantly affected by treatments. There was significant effect of treatments on chemical parameters like TSS, ascorbic acid, total sugar. The highest TSS was recorded from the fruits treated with oxalic acid 5%. The maximum total sugar was recorded in Oxalic acid 10% treatment under both the trails. The Chitosan 1% treatment will serve as a good alternative for prolonging shelf life. Hence, it can be used as alternative recommendation in the field of post harvest handling of litchi fruits in future.
doi:10.20546/ijcmas.2018.708.117 fatcat:cghupuqfv5bshkyhcw7hgj6ysi