Vol. 12, Issue 3 (2023)

Author(s):
Santosh Lal Jat, Virendra Singh, RA Kaushik, SS Lakhawat, HL Bairwa, Shalini Pilania, Manisha Verma, Vinit Kumar Meena and Rajesh Meena

Abstract:
Vegetable crops are maximum perishable crops in which bell pepper is one of them. Capsicum is a highly perishable vegetable and it is to keeping fresh after harvest, quality loss and sped up to ethylene synthesis are the critical factors of short shelf life. In this study, we studied the effectiveness of modified atmospheric packaging on the quality parameters of capsicum fruits. Fruits were picked at the color changing stage and packaged in polyethylene bags with two concentration of o₂ (3 and 5 %) in combination with three co₂ concentrations 5, 10 and 15 (%) and kept at 8 ^oC and 12 ^oC with 85-90 % RH for 15 days. We measured The flavor analysis, chilling injury, Taste and overall acceptability during storage. Fruit stored in an atmosphere with a environmental gaseous composition served as a control and quickly lost important qualitative characteristics, as seen by faster softening, increased head space ethylene decreased Ethylene evolution rate, respiration rate and firmness during storage. Because of the delay in post- harvest ripening, which could be attributed to the effect of MAP on reducing respiration and ethylene production rates, the efficacy of the fruit was higher in the fruit-filled with MAP (3 % o₂+ 15 co₂+ 8 ^oC) compared to the control. Finally, we concluded that the fruit stored with MAP treatments retained maximum quality attributes for 15 days.