Pre-harvest treatments for shelf-life extension of Khasi mandarin under different storage conditions

Abstract

Mishandling and decay due to mold growth cause significant post harvest losses of khasi mandarin in India. The types of decay and severity are, however, dependent on the climate, varieties, agricultural practices, pre and post-harvest handling practices etc. An experiment was conducted with pre harvest sprays of carbendazim 0.1 per cent and a mixture of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis (10% v/v) to the immature fruits of Khasi mandarin twice during August and September at an interval of 30 days. Uniformly matured fruits from the treated plants were harvested during last week of December and stored in three different storage conditions, viz. ambient condition, evaporative cool chamber and cold storage. The pre-harvest treated fruits stored in cold storage showed no decay loss till 30 days of storage as against 9.57 per cent decay loss in the fruits without pre-harvest treatment under the same condition. Likewise, decay loss in pre-harvest treated fruits stored in evaporative cool storage was also much lower than the fruits stored at ambient condition on 30th day of storage. The shelf-life of 30 days was recorded in the fruits treated with carbendazim 0.1 per cent at ambient conditions as against 20 days without treatment in the same storage condition.