Effect of pre-cooling on post harvest life of Sapota (Manilkara achras (Mill) Fosberg) cv. Kalipatti

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2013 in the subject Agrarian Studies, Junagadh Agricultural University (Department of Horticulture), course: Horticulture, language: English, abstract: An experiment was carried out to study effect of pre-cooling on post harvest life of Sapota (Manilkara achras (Mill) Fosberg) cv. Kalipatti at the Post Graduate Laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh during the year 2010. The various pre-cooling treatments viz., control, pre-cooling at 6ºC, pre-cooling at 8°C, pre-cooling at 10°C and pre-cooling at 12°C for 2 hours, 5 hours and 8 hours respectively with Completely Randomized Design with three repetition having total thirteen treatments. The results of the study indicated that mango fruits treated with different pre-cooling treatment showed lower and slower rate in physical and chemical changes than control fruits. The fruits treated with pre-cooling at 8ºC for 8 hr proved to be most effective with respect to more number of days taken to ripe, longer shelf life, lower percentage of spoilage and higher percentage of marketable fruits. Lower physiological loss in weight and higher firmness of fruits. The treatment was also promising for slower increase in TSS, reducing sugar and total sugar, while slower decrease in ascorbic acid and acidity during storage. The organoleptic rating with regard to colour, taste and overall acceptability was also found significantly higher in pre-cooling at 8ºC for 8 hr treated fruits.