Influence of Harvesting Stages and Packaging on Storage Life of Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) Cv. Trevett
Influence of Harvesting Stages and Packaging on Storage Life of Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) Cv. Trevett
Rashid Khan1, Muhammad Sajid2, Saud Khan3*, Jehanzeb4 and Aslam Noor5
ABSTRACT
Supply of quality fruits to consumer is a major challenge due to storage and packing issues in developing countries. The current study was designed to evaluate postharvest quality of apricot at different harvesting stages i.e., M1 (greenish), M2 (light yellow) and M3 (orange-yellow) while, storage conditions i.e., packed in plastic bags with F0 (closed), F5 (5 pores), F10 (10 pores), F15 (15 pores), F20 (20 pores) and F25 (25 pores) at 5+2oC. The fruits were then analyzed for different quality parameters at 0 and 25 days storage. The harvesting stages (HS), perforated plastics (PP), storage duration (SD) as well as HS×SD and PP×SD significantly influenced various quality attributes of apricot fruits. The fruits harvested at the greenish stage had the lowest physiological weight loss and decay index that shows an increase in fruits harvested at orange yellow stage respectively after 25 days of storage. Similarly, after 25 days of storage, fruits stored in plastic bags having 10 pores retained fruit weight and attained minimum physiological weight loss with low decay index. Similarly, the fruits harvested at the greenish stage and stored for 25 days attained the highest titratable acidity, fruit firmness, and ascorbic acid in comparison with other harvesting stages. The highest titratable acidity, fruit firmness, and ascorbic acid were recorded in 10 pores plastic bags, while the lowest titratable acidity, fruit firmness and ascorbic acid were recorded in closed plastic bags after 25 days of storage. The lowest value of TSS and TSS: acid was recorded at a greenish stage, which increased at later stages of harvesting. In case of Pp ×SD, the range of TSS and TSS: Acid at day 0 increased after 25 days of storage with the lowest TSS and TSS: Acid was observed in plastic bags having 10 perforations. Apricot fruits harvested at the greenish stage (10.31 0 Brix) packed in plastic bags having 10 perforations shows the best in retaining most of the quality parameters at storage.
To share on other social networks, click on any share button. What are these?
