Back to Contents

Pak. J. Bot., 48(4): 1415-1420, 2016.

FREE FULL TEXT PDF

EFFECT OF CALCIUM SALT ON SOFT ROT, BITTER PIT AND

PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF STORED APPLES

IBADULLAH JAN^1,2, ABDUR RAB¹, MUHAMMAD SAJID¹, AMJAD IQBAL³,

ZABTA KHAN SHINWARI⁴ AND MUHAMMAD HAMAYUN^5*

¹Department of Horticulture, University of Agriculture Peshawar, KP, Pakistan

²Department of Agriculture, University of Swabi, KP, Pakistan

³Department of Agriculture, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, KP, Pakistan

⁴Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan

⁵Department of Botany, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, KP, Pakistan

^*Corresponding author’s email: hamayun@awkum.edu.pk; Office phone: 0937-929124

Abstract

Postharvest losses are one of the main problems in leading fruit producing countries. Therefore, an attempt has been made to decrease the postharvest losses during apple storage. To achieve this objective, fruits were dipped in 0, 3, 6 and 9% CaCl₂ solution for the period of 3, 6, 9 and 12 minutes and were stored for 150 days at 5 ± 1°C with 60–70% relative humidity. After the storage time, fruits were analysed for percent weight loss, total sugar, bitter pit incidence, soft rot, ascorbic acid and firmness. The ascorbic acid contents and firmness of the fruits significantly increased, when the fruits were dipped in 9% CaCl₂ solution as compared to control (dipped in water). Whereas, weight loss, total sugar, bitter pit and soft rot incidences were reduced with increased concentration of CaCl₂. The firmness of the fruits dipped for 3 minutes in a CaCl₂ solution was significantly lower in comparison to the fruits dipped for 12 minutes in a CaCl₂ solution. Likewise, the weight loss, bitter pit and the soft rot incidence reduced with increase in dipping duration in CaCl₂ solution from 3 minutes to 12 minutes.

Key words: Calcium salts, Apple firmness, Bitter pit, Soft rot, Shelf life.