Effect of temperature and sulphur treatments on storage behaviour of litchi fruits

Fruits of litchi cv. Shahi were treated with sulhpur fumes by burning sulphur @ 50 or 60 g/100 kg fruits in a closed chamber. The sulphited fruits were pre-cooled at 10 ± 2°C for two hours and stored either at ambient temperature (30 ± 2°C and 55 ± 5% RH) or at low temperature (4 ± 1°C and 85 ± 5% RH). Unsulphited (control) fruits were also stored at similar temperature regimes. Sulphited fruits stored at low temperature could limit weight loss in fruits to 3–4 per cent and decay loss to 4–5 per cent on 33rd day of storage. At low temperature, spoilage was negligible up to 21st days of storage when fruits were sulphited and pre-cooled for 2 h. Untreated (control) fruits at ambient temperature exhibited 29.02 per cent weight loss and 100 per cent decay on the last (33rd) day of storage. More than 80% fumigated treated fruits at low temperature were acceptable on 25th day of storage. Effect of sulphur burning @ 60 g/100kg fruits in a closed chamber was more pronounced than burning 50 g S/100kg fruits. Untreated fruits turned brown and lost their acceptability just after 2 days of harvest at ambient temperature and after 7 days at 4 ± 1°C. No browning in sulphited fruits was observed at low temperature till the last, i.e. 33rd day of storage.