Effect of gibberelic acid and calcium nitrate on the physiological and physico-chemical changes and shelf-life of aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn) fruits

Postharvest management is the burning issue in the present horticultural scenario. Aonla is full of medicinal and antioxidant properties. The present investigations were carried out at main experiment station (Horticulture Garden) of Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, UP during the year 2009–10 to study the effect of gibberelic acid and calcium nitrate on the physiological and physico-chemical changes during storage and shelf-life of aonla (Banarsi Aonla) fruits. The experiment comprised of five treatments T₁(control), T₂(calcium nitrate 0.5%), T₃ (calcium nitrate 1.0%), T₄ (GA₃ 50 ppm), T₅ (GA₃ 100 ppm) with three replications under completely randomized design. The minimum physiological loss in weight (PLW) of fruits (11.84%) was noted with 1 per cent calcium nitrate treatment and there was no spoilage of fruits in first day of storage in all the treatments including control. The spoilage of fruits gradually increased with increasing storage period. The minimum spoilage per cent was observed under 100 ppm GA₃ (8.58%) whereas it was maximum (16.58%) under control. The maximum TSS value and total sugar content were recorded with 50 ppm GA₃. Thus it may be summed up that the quality of fruits was favorably influenced during storage under postharvest treatment of calcium nitrate and GA₃.