International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.1, 38-43 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 39 Postharvest treatments play a significant role in extending shelf life of the fruits (Deka et al., 2006). In Nepal, mandarin losses are substantial annually due to insufficient postharvest practices during harvesting, transportation, and storage. To minimize these postharvest losses, postharvest treatments with wax and other safe fungicides are urgent (Rokaya et al., 2016). Temperature also plays the important role during storagr and the safe minimum temperatures for mandarin postharvest storage are between 5 °C and 8 °C (Kader, 1985). Edible coating of fruits can result in the creation of a modified atmosphere due to ineffective blockage of the pores within the fruits, reducing respiration rate and improving postharvest quality (Kader, 1985). Checking the rate of transpiration, respiration, microbial infection and protecting membranes from disorganization are some ways to extend shelf life and minimize postharvest loss (Sahu and Vishwavidyalya, 2016). Currently, there is lack of information on postharvest losses during storage of mandarins cultivated in Baitadi. The main objective of the present study is to explore methods to enhance the postharvest shelf life and quality of mandarins. 1 Materials and Method The study was conducted at Horticulture Laboratory of Gokuleshwor Agriculture and Animal Science College, Gokuleshwor, Baitadi. It lies in the Longitude 80°50' East and Latitude 24°75' North and elevation of 700 masl. Freshly harvested defect free light-yellow stage of Mandarin of local variety were brought from local community of Gokuleshwor, Baitadi. The collected fruits were washed with normal tap water to remove the adherent dirt materials and kept in the shade for air-dry. Each treatment per replication consisted twenty mandarin of uniform sizes packed and tooked non-destructive sample and kept in open plastic tray for control treatment. The experimental set up was done in Completely Randomised Design (CRD) with five treatments (T1 = Distilled water (Control), T2 = Calcium chloride (CaCl2), T3 = Cinnamomum oil, T4 = Bavistin and T5 = Salt solution), each replicated four times. Total Soluble Solid (TSS), Tritable Acidity (TA) and Firmness Readings were taken in every five days interval from the non-tagging sample. Physiological loss in weight (PLW) was taken from the non-destructive samples in 2 days interval from the tagged sample. Fruit firmness was taken with the help of penetrometer and TSS was taken with the help of refractometer. Data entry and analysis was done by using computer software package, Microsoft Excel (2019) and R-Stat. 2 Results and Discussion 2.1 Physiological loss in weight (PLW) As the storage period progressed, the physiological loss in weight (PLW) was markedly increased in all the treatments (Table 1). The weight loss percentage exhibited maximum increasing trends in the untreated fruits serving as controls during storage period. The fruits treated with Cinnamomum oil and Bavistin consistently showed the lowest percentage of PLW throughout the storage weeks, while the fruits exposed to a salt solution experienced the maximum weight loss during storage. Table 1 Effect of postharvest treatments on PLW TREATMENT PLWD1 PLWD5 PLWD10 PLWD15 PLWD20 PLWD25 CONTROL 1.20b 3.14a 5.69a 9.91a 16.91a 22.79ab CALCIUMCHLORID E 1.42a 3.21a 6.24a 9.32a 15.21b 20.49bc CINNAMOMUM OIL 1.30ab 1.92b 4.40b 7.12b 13.65c 18.10c BAVISTIN 1.15b 2.25b 4.77b 7.81b 13.67c 19.04c SALT SOLUTION 1.35ab 3.00a 6.00a 10.02a 17.58a 23.28a CV 9.77 10.57 7.67 9.21 6.45 7.69 F-VALUE (TREATMENT) 2.97 16.74 14.74 10.22 13.30 8.09 LSD 0.19 0.44 0.64 1.25 1.53 2.46 SE 0.05 0.26 0.36 0.58 0.81 1.01 Note: Means with the same letter within a column do not differ significantly at p= 0.05, CV = Coefficient of variation, LSD = Least Significant Difference, and SE = Standard Error
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ4ODYzNA==