Antonio L. Acedo. Jr
Visayas State College of Agriculture
Postharvest Technology Lab., Dept. of Horticulture
doi.org/10.57043/transnastphl.1997.5952
Abstract
Fresh fruits and vegetables deteriorate in quality very rapidly after harvest due to high rates of water loss and senescent changes. These processes rendered rambutan fruits and pechay crowns unmarketable in 2-3 days of storage and banana, mango, tomato and sweet pepper, in 7-13 days at ambient (27-32°C; 64-88% RH). Using a simple box-type evaporative cooler (EC), a cool (23-28°C) and humid (>90% RH) storage condition was established and inhibited fruit shrivelling and leaf wilting, reduced weight loss, retarded fruit ripening and rambutan pericarp browning, improved banana peel color quality, and as a result, prolonged shelf life considerably. However, the increased humidity favored disease infection in the later period of EC s1orage. Sodium hypochlorite washing minimized disease incidence in tomatoes, sweet peppers, pechay, and mango. Ethanol application was ineffective but retarded ripening of fruits, except in bananas. In rambutan, ascorbic acid did not retard pericarp browning. EC storage and the various treatments employed had no adverse effects on the chemical and sensory quality attributes of stored produce.