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Effects of calcium lactate on postharvest quality of bitter gourd fruit during cold storage

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Abstract

This study was aimed to assess the effects of calcium lactate (CL) on quality, shelf-life and storage physiology of bitter gourd. Fruits were dipped in the aqueous solution of CL (50, 75, and 100 mM) and stored at 10 °C and 85–95% relative humidity (RH). The changes in physical, biochemical and enzymological parameters were recorded at five days interval. The results showed that in CL@100 mM treated fruit, physiological loss in weight (PLW) and decay incidence were minimized. Conversely, their firmness, total phenolics, antioxidants and total chlorophyll retained at higher side. The CL @ 75 mM was able to retain higher ascorbic acid up to 20 days while CL@100 mM was effective in controlling pectin methylesterase (PME) activity and increasing the inhibitory activity of α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Therefore, our observations suggested that by applying CL@100 mM, 5 days extra (20 days) shelf-life of bitter gourd fruit can be achieved with notable retention of biochemical compounds over untreated fruit (15 days with poor retention of important nutrients).

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Abbreviations

1-MCP:

1-Methylcyclopropene

CL:

Calcium lactate

DPPH:

2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl

FW:

Fresh weight

GAE:

Gallic acid equivalents

GRAS:

Generally recognized as safe

LDPE:

Low-density polyethylene

OD:

Optical density

PLW:

Physiological loss in weight

PME:

Pectin methylesterase

RH:

Relative humidity

SE:

Standard error

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute for financial support and laboratory facility for conducting the experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Food Science and Postharvest Technology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110 012, India

    Uma Prajapati, Ram Asrey & R. R. Sharma

  2. Fishery Resources Assessment Division (FRAD), ICAR-CMFRI, Kochi, 682 018, India

    Eldho Varghese

Authors
  1. Uma Prajapati
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  2. Ram Asrey
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  3. Eldho Varghese
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  4. R. R. Sharma
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Contributions

The study was anticipated, planned and coordinated by RA. UP performed the experiment. RRS rendered scientific advice. EV analyzed the experimental data. UP and RA have written the manuscript. All the authors have approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ram Asrey.

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Prajapati, U., Asrey, R., Varghese, E. et al. Effects of calcium lactate on postharvest quality of bitter gourd fruit during cold storage. Physiol Mol Biol Plants 27, 1811–1821 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-021-01045-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-021-01045-8

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