International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.1, 38-43 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 40 The decrease in weight loss seen in fruits treated with Cinnamomum oil could be due to the oil's ability to restrict transpiration and respiration processes by closing the lenticels and stomata on the fruit cell walls. Loss of weight and moisture in the peel mostly occurred through fruit transpiration, resulting in a wilted rind and shriveled appearance (Wills et al., 2007). These findings were in consonance with the report of the Ahmad et al. (2005) in kinnow mandarin, Deka et al. (2006) in Khasi mandarin and Rokaya et al. (2016) who found minimum weight loss in the fruits coated with waxy substances. 2.2 Decay loss At the end of the storage period (25th day) minimum decay loss was recorded in the fruits with Bavistin (25%) followed by Cinnamomum (30%) and calcium chloride (35%). Maximum decay loss was recorded on control (45%) and salt solution (60%). The fruits which were not treated with fungicide during storage suffered substantial losses (Reuther, 1967). As time passed during storage, decay in the fruits became more pronounced across all treatments. The minimal decay loss in fruits treated with Bavistin and Cinnamomum oil is due to their ability to inhibit moisture and microbial agents, including fungi and bacteria. Bavistin acts as a fungicide, inhibiting fungal growth by disrupting cell wall synthesis, while Cinnamomum oil's antimicrobial properties prevent microbial proliferation by disrupting cell membranes and metabolic processes. Additionally, both treatments act as moisture barriers, further limiting microbial contamination and decay. The minimal decay loss could be because the coating substances serves as a protective barrier against microbial growth and helps prevent moisture penetration (Yadav et al., 2010). Similar findings regarding minimal decay loss were reported by Rokaya et al. (2016) in mandarin and Ahmad et al. (2005) in kinnow mandarin. They found that using wax or wax-like safe fungicides during storage resulted in minimal decay loss. 2.3 Fruit firmness As the storage period progressed, the firmness of the fruits decreased across all treatments. The results indicate that this decline began in the first week and continued until the end of storage in all treatments (Table 2). In the initial week, fruits treated with Cinnamomum oil and salt solution exhibited the highest firmness, while the lowest firmness was observed in the control and CaCl2-treated fruits. At the end of the storage duration, the fruits treated withCaCl2 showed the highest level of firmness, followed by those treated with Cinnamomum, whereas the fruits treated with salt solution displayed the lowest firmness. Table 2 Effect of postharvest treatments on fruit firmness TREATMENT FRIMNESS D1 FRIMNESS D5 FRIMNESS D10 FIRMNESS D15 FIRMNESS D20 Control 4.73c 4.61b 3.91c 3.60d 3.24c Calcium chloride 4.79c 4.61b 4.51a 4.37a 3.95a Cinnamomum oil 5a 4.97a 4.60a 4.25b 3.55b Bavistin 4.76c 4.79ab 4.25b 3.88c 3.26c Salt solution 4.9ab 4.15c 3.4d 3e 2.20d CV 1.46 2.59 2.04 1.25 4.40 F-VALUE (TREATMENT) 9.61 25.52 135.10 526.59 82.21 LSD 0.10 0.18 0.13 0.07 0.22 MEAN 4.83 4.63 4.13 3.82 3.24 SE 0.04 0.13 0.22 0.24 0.28 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
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