Postharvest application of salicylic acid reduced decay and enhanced storage life of papaya fruit during cold storage

Abstract

Papaya fruit being perishable and climacteric are highly susceptible to fungal attack resulting in fruit decay and lesser shelf life. Salicylic acid (SA) can preserve the quality of fruit by suppressing decay incidence and increasing antioxidative enzyme activities. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to extend the mean storage life of papaya fruit during storage (12 °C) with good keeping quality. For this purpose different doses of SA (0, 0.5 mmol L⁻¹, 1 mmol L⁻¹and 1.5 mmol L⁻¹) were evaluated on papaya fruit stored at 12 °C for 28 days. Overall, the result depicted that less fruit decay (5.15%), and less weight loss (5.19%) was noticed in fruit subjected to SA @ 1.5 mmol L⁻¹. Fruit firmness, total soluble solids, sugars, acidity and ascorbic acid were also maintained in SA treated fruits. SA @ 1.5 mmol L⁻¹ performed best for retaining maximum total phenolic contents (68 mg/g FW) and total antioxidants. Enzyme activity of antioxidative enzymes like catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) of stored papaya fruit was more prominent in SA (1.5 mmol L⁻¹) treated fruit during entire storage while control fruit exhibit lower enzyme activities, lesser phenol content and antioxidants. It can be concluded that higher dose of SA (1.5 mmol L⁻¹) proved more effective for extending the shelf life up to 28 days by reducing the decay incidence, maintaining firmness and by increasing the activities of antioxidative enzyme activities.