Effect of UV-C Irradiation and CaCl2 Treatment on the Quality and Storage Life of Peach Fruit, Cv.Zafarany

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Abstract

To prolong the storage life and quality of 'Zafarany' peach, fruits were treated with UV-C irradiation with dosage of 1.435×10-4 Wcm-2 with three time durations (0, 5 and 15 min) and as well immersion of fruits in 0 and 3% CaCl2 solution. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design (factorial experiment) of four replications. Fruits were harvested in commercial maturity, treated as mentioned, and stord in a cold storage of 0°C (90±5% relative humidity) for 45 days. The quality traits including flesh firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), titrable acidity (TA), TSS/TA ratio, pH, weight loss, decay, ascorbic acid content were recorded. The results showed that UV-C irradiation along with dipping of fruits in CaCl2 solution increased the storage durability and improved the quality factors by the end of cold storage. UV-C irradiation decreased pH, TSS/TA and decay while increasing TA, firmness, and ascorbic acid content in fruits. Dipping in CaCl2 solution increased the firmness and TA while decreasing the weight loss, decay and as well the TSS/TA of fruits.

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