Abstract:
Sapota (commonly known as sapodilla or chiku) is one of the important and delicious fruit in India
and favored due to its sweet taste and flavor. In spite of the considerable production of this fruit
tremendous post harvest loss (about 32%) is one of the major drawbacks for the production promotion
of sapota which is mainly due to the perishable nature of the fruit. High respiration is associated with
high ethylene production are the main causes of high perishability of this fruit. In the present
experiment attempt has been taken to enhance the shelf life of sapota by packaging of fruits minimally
affecting the quality during storage. The freshly harvested sapota fruits were washed with water, dried
and packed in polythene packet of 100 guage (perforated and non perforated), news print packet
(perforated and non perforated) and KMnO4 impregnated blotting paper. Similar observations were
taken in this experiment. Best result was obtained in news print packet without perforation with
regard to lowest PLW (17.1%), highest fruit hardness (1.98 kg), maximum consumable life (more
than 12 days). A minimum shrinkage was noted in the fruits of same packet. Non perforated
polythene packets resulted worst in all respect, though the PLW was lowest.
