Effect of packaging materials on firmness and transportation studies of ber fruits during storage

Abstract

A study was undertaken, to evaluate the suitable packaging material for transporting the fruits in distant market by road route, at Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering & Tech-nology under Horticultural Crop Processing Division, Abohar in Punjab. The four packaging materi-als with and without cushioning materials viz, gunny bag, polythene bag, netlon bag and CFB boxes, two waxing treatments on fruit, viz; waxing and not waxing, three storage conditions, viz; room temperature, zero-energy cool chamber and cold storage were evaluated for better firmness and maintained chemical properties with enhance the shelf life during storage after transportation. The maximum firmness was recorded in those fruits, which were packed in CFB boxes with providing wax treatment in all the three storage conditions. The maximum TSS and minimum PLW was ob-served in the fruits packed in polythene bag with paper cutting cushioning material and maximum ascorbic acid and minimum acidity was observed in the CFB boxes packed fruits with cushioning material while maximum reducing sugar and minimum acidity was noticed in those fruits packed in netlon bag without cushioning material. These results suggest that fruit can be treated with wax for retaining the firmness during storage and cushioning material can be applied during -transportation for enhance the quality of the fruits.