PAWANDEEP SINGH, JATINDER SINGH, ANIS MIRZA AND RAJNI RAJAN*
Department of Horticulture, School of Agriculture, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara-144 411 (Punjab),
India
*(e-mail: rajni.26356@lpu.co.in; Mobile: 87897 14640)
(Received: September 1, 2022; Accepted: October 11, 2022)
ABSTRACT
During the peak period of guava production, there is a heavy glut in the fruit market which results in
lowering the revenue of growers. Moreover, guava can’t be stored for longer periods due to its short shelf life. Therefore, the present experiment was carried out to adjust desired ripening time of guava. The experiment was laid out in a two-factor factorial randomized block design. Pre-harvest spray of various chemicals viz., SA @ 200, 400 and 600 ppm; kinetin @ 5, 10 and 15 ppm; GA3 @ 25, 50 and 75 ppm and CaCl2 @ 1, 2 and 3% was applied twice (on 6th November and 21st November). Fruits were harvested in the 3rd week of December, stored and analyzed at weekly intervals. From present investigation, it was concluded that delay in guava ripening was possible up to 28 days with application of kinetin @ 5 ppm/GA3 @ 75 ppm/CaCl2 @ 2%. Significant results were found in retaining physico-chemical traits during storage. Application of CaCl2 @ 2-3% proved to be the best treatment pertaining to fruit weight, total sugars along with reducing sugars, while the firmness and vitamin C were the best in GA3 @ 75 ppm. Improved acidity, TSS and minimum physiological weight loss were recorded best with application of gibberellic acid @ 25-75 ppm.
Key words : Ambient storage, guava, pre-harvest spray, ripening, shelf life