Studies on the Effect of Post Harvest Treatments to Enhance the Shelf-life of Custard Apple (Annona squamosa L.)

Custard apple being a climacteric fruit has short shelf-life because of fast ripening followed by senescence accompanied with quality changes and decay loss. Application of edible coating material like sago at 5 and 10 per cent concentration to Annona squamosa fruits resulted in increase in shelf-life by 8 days when compared to untreated fruits. The fruits treated with fine coating of sago (5 and 10%) retained excellent fruit quality with high TSS, sugars (total and reducing), acidity, ascorbic acid, PLW and marketable fruits even up to eight day of storage. Therefore, identification of natural products which produces desirable coating material with necessary amendment is the appropriate technology that can be explored for improving post-harvest storage and marketing efficiency.