Effect of temperature and sulphur treatments on storage behaviour of litchi fruits

摘要

Fruits of litchi cv. Shahi were treated with sulhpur fumes by burning sulphur @ 50 or 60 g/100 kg fruits in a closed chamber. The sulphited fruits were pre-cooled at 10 ± 2°C for two hours and stored either at ambient temperature (30 ± 2°C and 55± 5% RH) or at low temperature (4 ± 1°C and 85 ± 5% RH). Unsulphited (control) fruits were also stored at similar temperature regimes. Sulphited fruits stored at low temperature could limit weight loss in fruits to 3-4 per cent and decay loss to 4-5per cent on 33rd day of storage. At low temperature, spoilage was negligible up to 21st days of storage when fruits were sulphited and pre-cooled for 2 h. Untreated (control) fruits at ambient temperature exhibited 29.02 per cent weight loss and 100 percent decay on the last (33rd) day of storage. More than 80% fumigated treated fruits at low temperature were acceptable on 25th day of storage. Effect of sulphur burning @ 60 g/100kg fruits in a closed chamber was more pronounced than burning 50 g 8/100kg fruits. Untreated fruits turned brown and lost their acceptability just after 2 days of harvest at ambient temperature and after 7 days at 4 ± 1°C. No browning in sulphited fruits was observed at low temperature till the last, i.e. 33rd day of storage.