Strawberry is a very nutritious but highly perishable fruit, which require appropriate technology to maintain postharvest quality. An experiment was conducted to develop a safe technology for extension of shelf life and quality retention of strawberry using calyx retention and organic extracts. The experiment consisted of two-factors: Factor A: Calyx retention, viz. without calyx and peduncle (P0), calyx with peduncle (P1), and calyx without peduncle (P2), and Factor B: Organic extracts viz., control (T0), garlic extract @ 1:1 (T1), aloe vera extract @ 1% (T2), and chitosan coating 0.2% (T3). The experiment was laid out in completely randomized design with three replications. Results revealed that combined treatment of calyx with peduncle and edible garlic extracts showed best external appearance among the treatments. The maximum weight loss (26.51%) was recorded in calyx with peduncle plus control, while the minimum weight loss (16.41%) was found from calyx with peduncle plus garlic extract. The maximum TSS content (8.69%), disease incidence (55.54%) and severity (33.38%) were recorded in without calyx and peduncle plus control, while the minimum TSS content (6.87%), disease incidence (9.26%) and severity (5.40%) were observed in calyx with peduncle plus garlic extract, respectively. The longest shelf life (6.67 days) was obtained from calyx with peduncle plus garlic extracts, while the shortest shelf life was found from without calyx and peduncle plus control. Therefore, combined treatment of calyx with peduncle plus garlic extract was found to be better in respect of reducing postharvest diseases, shelf life prolongation and quality retention of strawberry.
Key words: Aloe vera, calyx, chitosan, garlic, shelf life, strawberry, quality
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