Abstract:
Current experiment was done at horticultural laboratory at Regional Agricultural Research and
Development Center, Bandarawela to evaluate fruit quality and durability of sweet orange. Fruits at 50%
maturity stage were selected and six different treatments were applied to find the best storage conditions.
Treatments were ambient temperature packed in transparent polythene (T l), stored in ambient
temperature packed in black polythene (T2), stored in ambient temperature without packing (T3), stored
in refrigerator packed in transparent polythene (T4), stored in refrigerator packed in black polythene (T5)
and stored in refrigerator without packing (T6). Physiological characters (weight, firmness, juice content
and rotten %) and biochemical characters (TSS, pH and Acidity) of the initial and stored fruits were
examined weekly for a period of 35 days. Sensory evaluation was conducted using 10 panelists to find out
consumer preferences. According to the results, black polythene covered samples stored in refrigerator
condition (T5) showed highest shelf life. During storage period, minimum weight losses (from 85.1g to
73.1g), highest TSS (11.2), gradually decreasing of firmness, increase of pH (from 2.6 ± 0.1) and reduction
of pH (from 1.6 ± 0.1 to 1.2 ± 0.06) and 0% of rotten fruits were observed for fruits stored in refrigerator,
packed in black polythene. Specially, glossy appearance and yellow colour similar to naturally ripen fruits
was successfully developed in fruits of above treatment Sensory evaluation also proved the higher quality
of black colour polythene covered fruit stored in refrigerator, by giving significantly higher peel colour
appearance (98%), taste (88% ) and juice content (88%). Therefore, refrigeration of sweet orange packed
in black polythene was the best storage condition.
