Effect of different packaging films on shelf-life and quality of Daisy mandarin under ambient conditions

Abstract

The fruits of Daisy mandarin were harvested at dark orange colour satge and packed in paper moulded trays followed by wrapping with different packaging films, viz., heat shrinkable film (15 μ), cling (15 μ) and low density polyethylene (25 μ LDPE) film. After packaging, the fruits were stored under ambient conditions (18- 20°C; 90-95% RH). The fruits were then evaluated for various quality attributes periodically. The in-package gaseous composition (O2 and CO2) in shrink film packed fruits was found to be at desired level, which resulted in maintenance of pleasant flavour of the fruits. On the other hand, LDPE film accumulated very high level of CO2, which led to formation of fermenting odour and decay of fruits in the package. After 15 days of storage, shrink film helped in reducing the loss in weight (1.12%), firmness (7 lb force), decay incidence (0%) and maintained various qualities attributes like total soluble solids (11.8%), sugars (7.75%), acidity (0.46%) and ascorbic acid content (12.3 mg/100 g) of the fruits during shelf-life better than unwrapped control fruits where PLW (10.71%), firmness (4 lb force) and decay (5%) was recorded. The data revealed that shrink film proved quite effective in prolonging the shelf-life and maintaining the quality of Daisy mandarin fruits for 15 days compared to only 5 days in case of unpacked control.