EFFECT OF LAC WAX, CITRASHINE AND INDIVIDUAL SHRINK WRAPPING OF FRUITS ON STORAGE LIFE OF LATE HARVESTED KINNOW UNDER AMBIENT CONDITIONS
An experiment was conducted to study the effect of different post harvest treatments on storage life of late harvested kinnow under ambient conditions. Uniform and healthy fruits were harvested in the middle of March in 2009. The fruits were washed and treated with lac wax, citrashine and individually shrink wrapped in LDPE (19m) and packed in 4 kg CFB boxes and stored under ambient conditions. During storage of kinnow, the physiological loss in weight was increased and firmness, TSS and acidity found decreased continuously. Maximum PLW was observed in control, whereas, shrink wrapped and lac wax treated fruits effectively reduced PLW and maintained higher firmness and TSS upto 14 days under ambient conditions and remain moderately acceptable upto the 21 days of storage. The individually shrink wrapped fruits showed higher organoleptic score upto 21 days of storage. Results indicated that individually shrink wrapped, lac wax and citrashine coated fruits could be stored up to 21 days in ambient conditions without much loss of quality. However, control fruits developed shriveling and slight off flavour after 14 days of storage.