Abstract:
Apricot is a highly nutritious fruit with a rich composition of health promoting components
with a unique taste. Due to its perishable nature, enormous amounts of fresh produce goes to
waste during peak season. In order to reduce the postharvest losses, the present study was
designed in three phases. Initially, twelve commonly grown cultivars were characterized for
their proximate composition, biochemical attributes, mineral contents and some technological
traits. Among the tested cultivars, Habi variety had best physico-chemical and sensory
attributes, Jahangir was rich in mineral contents, while Mirmalik had better technological
traits. On the basis of overall quality characteristics, Habi variety was selected for the
postharvest studies. The second phase was comprised of three experiments. Different
concentrations of CaCl2 (1, 2, 3 and 4% w/v), salicylic acid (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 mM w/v),
polyethylene films of varying densities and wrapping paper as packaging material were
applied to determine suitable treatment. Physiological, biochemical and microbial attributes
were analyzed at two day interval. Three percent CaCl2 maintained quality attributes with
lower microbial load and higher sensory acceptance up to 12 days followed by 2, 4% CaCl2
respectively during ambient storage. Similarly, 2 mM salicylic acid and low density
polyethylene film significantly retained all the tested nutritional and biochemical traits. The
combined effect of the best selected treatments (3% CaCl2, 2 mM salicylic acid and LDPE
packaging with KMnO4) maintained acceptable quality of the fruit up to 18 days at ambient
temperature. The present study provides a baseline for the effective postharvest application of
calcium chloride and salicylic acid along with polyethylene packaging on apricot in order to
reduce losses and increase its availability in the distant markets.
