Effect of post-harvest treatments of selenium on physico-chemical quality in guava (Psidium guajava L.) fruit

Abstract

Guava fruits of cv. Hisar Surkha (shelf life 3-5 days) were harvested at mature green stage. The fruits were given post-harvest treatments of selenium (0.01 ppm, 0.02 ppm, 0.03 ppm, 0.04 ppm and 0.05 ppm) each for five minutes. The fruits were analyzed for physcio-chemical quality parameters viz. physiological loss in weight, firmness, total soluble solids and titratable acidity at three days interval until complete decay. The data revealed that firmness and titratable acidity decreased continuously while the physiological loss in weight increased progressively during storage. Total soluble solids increased progressively with increasing storage period upto 6 DOS stage thereafter, it declined at 9 and 12 DOS stages respectively in control fruits. Pretreatment of guava fruits with 0.02 ppm of selenium resulted in significantly delayed decline in physiological loss in weight (30.44%), titratable acidity (7.90%) and retained the fruit firmness (34.13%) as compared to control fruits. The total soluble solids were also maintained in guava fruits treated with 0.02 ppm selenium at all stages during storage. The delay in reduction of firmness, titratable acidity and weight loss by lower selenium concentrations positively affects fruit storage.