Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of pre-harvest calcium sprays on post-harvest life of winter guava (Psidium guajava L.)

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Food Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Influence of pre-harvest foliar application of calcium nitrate on quality attributes of winter guava cv. ‘Sardar’ during different interval of cold storage and post cold storage shelf-life under ambient conditions was investigated. Plants were sprayed with calcium nitrate solutions (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%) at colour break stage of fruit and a fruit with no treatment was control. The fruits were harvested at optimum maturity. Bruise and disease free fruits were packed in corrugated fibre board boxes with newspaper lining and stored at 6–8 °C and 90–95% RH. The fruits were evaluated after 10, 20, 30 and 40 days of storage and during shelf-life at 2 and 4 days interval. Physiological loss in weight and spoilage of fruits increased and firmness, ascorbic acid and acidity decreased continuously during storage. Fruits treated with 1% Ca(NO3)2 effectively reduced spoilage, maintained higher firmness, total soluble solid and ascorbic acid up to 2 days under ambient conditions after 30 days of cold storage and remained moderately acceptable up to the 40 days of storage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahmed MS, Singh S (2000) Studies on extension of storage life of ‘Amrapali’ mango. Orissa J Hort 28:73–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Amerine MA, Pangborn RM, Roessler EB (1965) Principles of sensory evaluation of food. Academic, London, p 5

    Google Scholar 

  • Anon (2006) Package of practices for cultivation of fruit crops. Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana

  • Anon (2009) Indian horticulture data base-2008. National Horticulture Board, Gurgaon, India

  • AOAC (2000) Official methods of analysis, 17th edn. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Brummell DA, Dal Cin V, Crisosoto CH, Labavitch JM (2004) Cell wall metabolism during maturation, ripening and senescence of peach fruit. J Exp Bot 55:2029–2039

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chandra R, Gupta PN, Rajput CBS (1999) Influence of pre-harvest application of calcium and alar on post-harvest changes in cv. ‘Sardar’ guava fruits. Trop Agr 76:70–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Conway WS, Sams CE, Kelman A (1994) Enhancing the natural resistance of plant tissue to post-harvest diseases through calcium applications. HortSci 29:751–754

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dhaliwal GS, Singla R (2002) Studies on the time of anthesis and dehiscence in different genotypes of guava in winter and rainy season crops. Indian J Hort 59:157–161

    Google Scholar 

  • Faust M, Shear CB (1972) The effect of calcium on respiration of apples. J Am Soc Hort Sci 97:437–439

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fry SC (2004) Primary cell wall metabolism: tracking the carriers of wall polymers in living cells. New Phytol 161:641–675

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gerasopoulos D, Chouliaras V, Lionakis S (1996) Effect of pre-harvest calcium chloride spray on maturity and storability of Hayward kiwifruit. Postharvest Biol Technol 7:65–72

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta OP, Singh BP, Singh SP, Chauhan KS (1984) Effect of calcium compounds as pre-harvest spray on the shelf-life of peach cv. ‘Sharbati’. Punjab Hort J 24:105–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiwale SS, Singh SP (2003) Prolonging the shelf-life of guava (Psidium guajava L.). Indian J Hort 60:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Jagtiani J, Chan HT Jr, Sakai WS (1988) Tropical fruit processing. Academic Press Inc., New York, pp 9–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Killadi B, Singh MD, Singh BP, Singh RA (2007) Shelf-life evaluation of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cultivars. Acta Hort 735:603–607

    Google Scholar 

  • Lal S, Tiwari JP, Misra KK (2000) Effect of plant spacing and pruning intensity on fruit yield and quality of guava. Prog Hort 32:20–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahajan BVC, Dhatt AS (2004) Studies on post-harvest calcium chloride application on storage behaviour and quality of Asian pear during cold storage. J Food Agric Environ 2:152–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Mapson CW (1970) Vitamins in fruits: Stability of L-ascorbic acid. In: Biochemistry of fruits and their products. Academic Press, London, pp 376–387

  • Martinsson M, Kwast A, Cieslinski G, Treder W (2006) Impact of production systems and fertilizer application on yield and quality of strawberries. Acta Hort 708:59–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Navjot GS (2006) Studies on storage behaviour of peach cv. ‘Earli Grande’. Int J Agric Sci 2:541–543

    Google Scholar 

  • Panse VG, Sukhatme PV (1985) Statistical methods for agricultural workers, 4th edn. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi

    Google Scholar 

  • Pool KM, Weaver RJ, Kliewer KM (1972) The effect of growth regulators on changes in fruits of ‘Thompson Seedless’ during cold storage. J Am Soc Hort Sci 97:67–70

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raese JT, Drake SR (2000) Effect of calcium sprays, time of harvest, cold storage, and ripeness on fruit quality of ‘Anjou’ pears. J Plant Nutr 23:843–853

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes MJC, Woodtorton LSC, Gallard T, Hulme AC (1968) Metabolic changes in excised fruit tissue I. Factor affecting the development of a malate decarboxylation system during the ageing of disc of pre-climecteric apples. Phytochem 7:271–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Selvan MT, Bal JS (2005) Effect of different treatments on the shelf-life of ‘Sardar’ guava during cold storage. J Res Punjab Agric Univ 42:28–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh G (1988) Effect of calcium nitrate and plant growth regulators on the storage of ‘Allahabad Safeda’ guava. Indian J Hort 45:45–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh K, Chauhan KS (1982) Effect of pre-harvest application of calcium, potassium and Alar on fruit quality and storage life of guava fruits. Haryana Agric Univ J Res 12:649–654

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh JP, Singh SP (1999) Effect of pre-harvest spray of calcium nitrate on shelf-life of guava (Psidium guajava L.) fruits cv. ‘Allahabad Safeda’. J Appl Biol 9:149–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh RP, Tandon DK, Kalra SK (1993) Change in post-harvest quality of mangoes affected by pre-harvest application of calcium salts. Sci Hort 54:211–219

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh S, Singh AK, Joshi HK (2005) Prolong storability of Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) under semiarid eco-system of Gujarat. Indian J Agric Sci 75:647–650

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh R, Chaturvedi OP, Guar GS, Singh G (2007) Effect of pre-harvest spray of zinc, calcium and boron on the storage behaviour of guava (Psidium guajava L.) fruits cv. ‘Allahabad Safeda’. Acta Hort 735:633–638

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh S, Singh AK, Joshi HK, Bagle BG, Dhandar DG (2008) Storability of ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk) fruit in semi arid environment. J Food Sci Technol 45:65–69

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Srivastava MP, Tandon RN (1968) Influence of temperature on Botryodiplodia rot of citrus and sapota. Indian Phytopathol 21:195–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Tandon DK, Singh BP, Kalra SK (1989) Storage behaviour of specific gravity graded guava fruits. Scientia Hort 41:35–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tzoutzoukou CG, Bouranis DI (1997) Effect of pre-harvest application of calcium on apricot fruit. J Plant Nutr 20:295–309

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wills RBH, Bembridge PA, Scott KJ (1980) Use of flesh firmness and other objective tests to determine consumer acceptability of ‘Delicious’ apples. Aust J Exp Agric Anim 20:252–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Horticulture, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 141 004, India

    Mandal Goutam, H. S. Dhaliwal & B. V. C. Mahajan

Authors
  1. Mandal Goutam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. H. S. Dhaliwal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. B. V. C. Mahajan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mandal Goutam.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Goutam, M., Dhaliwal, H.S. & Mahajan, B.V.C. Effect of pre-harvest calcium sprays on post-harvest life of winter guava (Psidium guajava L.). J Food Sci Technol 47, 501–506 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-010-0085-2

Download citation

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-010-0085-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation