Abstract:
Carambola or star fruit has been identified as an important minor fruit crop of warm
tropical and subtropical areas of the world, especially in South East Asia. The fruit is often
consumed as fresh or used to prepare different value added products like juice, squash, jam,
jelly, pickles etc. The ripe fruit, an important source of natural antioxidants, possess excellent
sugar-acid blend giving a characteristic taste. The magnitude losses of carambola fruits
during postharvest and marketing operations are widely recognized. The losses are mainly
due to improper handling of fruits before and after harvest. Information available on the
effect of harvesting stage, storage temperature and packaging on shelf life of carambola is
lacking. In the present study, three harvesting stages (fully matured but green, trace of yellow
and half ripe), two temperatures (low temperature-5°C and ambient condition) and three
types of packaging (no packing, packaging in perforated polythene bags and sealed polythene
bags) were assessed. The shelf life of carambola fruits normally lasted up to 20 days at
ambient conditions. However, the shelf life can be extended up to 30 days if stored the fruits
at 5°C. In general, the TSS content increased while the total acid content declined with the
increasing period of storage irrespective of treatments. Unpacked fruits exhibited slight edge
over the other types of packaging in respect to the TSS and acid contents of fruits at storage.
Ascorbic acid content decreased with the increasing storage period. In conclusion, fruits
harvested at half ripe stage should be stored at 5°C with packaging of 3% perforated
polythene pack in order to extend the shelf life of carambola.
