EFFECT OF PEDICEL RETENTION AND ZERO ENERGY COOL CHAMBER ON STORAGE BEHAVIOUR OF MALTA FRUITS

An experiment was conducted to access the effect of pedicel retention and storage of malta fruits in zero energy cool chamber (ZECC). It was observed that there was an increase in the physiological loss in weight and TSS of the fruits during 90 days storage, while, the fruit firmness and titratable acidity declined consistently during the entire storage period. These changes were minimum in the fruits harvested with pedicel and stored under ZECC. The weight loss and the rotting were reduced to about half by storage of fruits in ZECC. The shelf-life could be enhanced to about 90 days by storing the fruits in ZECC with attached pedicel.