Vegetos

Abstract

The effect of calcium chloride treatments on storage quality of pear cv. Punjab Soft under low temperature storage was investigated. Fruits were given post harvest dip in aqueous solution of CaCl₂ (0, 2, 4%) for five minutes and subsequently stored at 0–1°C and 90–95% RH. The effectiveness of treatments on fruits was assessed by analyzing physiological loss in weight, fruit firmness, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, sensory quality after the interval of 30, 45, 60 and 70 days of storage. It was observed that calcium treatments effectively reduced weight loss of fruits, and maintained fruit firmness, juice acidity and sensory quality of fruits during storage. However, CaCl₂ @ 2% treatment was most effective in maintaining fruit quality of the fruits at the end of storage. Further, correlation matrix studies of quality parameters revealed the inverse relationship of TA, fruit firmness and sensory quality with physiological loss in weight and soluble solids content. For extensive view of total variations contributed by each factor during storage, principal component analysis was conducted. It was observed that physiological loss in weight (PC1) contributed to maximum variation in quality parameters of fruits during its storage under low temperature.