Enzymatic and physico-chemical changes in pear fruits in response to post-harvest application of oxalic acid

Abstract

To study the effect of oxalic acid (OA) on storage behaviour of ‘Nijisseiki’ pear, fruits were dipped in aqueous solutions of OA @ 2, 4 and 6 mmoll-1 for 5 min. Treated and untreated fruits were packed in corrugated fibre board (CFB) boxes and stored at 0-1°C and 90-95% RH. Fruits were analyzed for various physico-chemical changes after 0, 30, 50 and 70 days of storage. As compared to control, OA treatments were found effective in decreasing physiological loss in weight (PLW), spoilage and maintained the fruit firmness, sensory quality, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), and pectin methyl esterase (PME) activity under low temperature storage. After 70 days of storage, minimum PLW (5.95%), spoilage (3.85%), and maximum fruit firmness (6.95 lbf), TSS (12.19%), TA (0.209%), sensory quality score (5.76) and PME activity (1.29 ml of 0.02 N NaOH) was registered in OA @ 6 mmoll-1 treated fruits.