Effect of hot water treatment and biocontrol agent (Debaryomyces hansenii) on shelf-life of peach

Studies were conducted to find out the effect of hot water treatment and a biocontrol agent (Debaryomyces hansenii) on shelf life and quality of peach cv. Shan-e-Punjab. The fruits were harvested at physiological mature stage and were either given hot water treatment (HWT) at 50°C for 3 minutes, and treated with D. hansenii, or HWT + D. hansenii. Fruits under control were not given any treatment. Treated fruits were air-dried, packed in 1.0% perforated HDPE film of 200 gauge and kept at ambient and cold storage conditions (5±2°C, 90–95% RH). Physiological loss in weight (PLW) and fruit decay (%) increased and the acidity decreased continuously during the storage. Maximum rotting was observed in fruits under control, whereas, remarkably very less rotting was observed in D. hansenii treated fruits at 7 days of storage under ambient conditions. In cold storage, synergistic and significant effect of both the treatments was observed even up to 35 days of storage. TSS increased upto 3 days in all the treatments, but it declined at ambient conditions afterwards. Maximum TSS and total sugars content were observed in fruits treated with HWT + D. hansenii and kept in cold storage. TSS/acid ratio increased continuously with the duration of storage. Thus, hot water treatment and biocontrol agent saved the fruits from post-harvest decay and maintained the quality of fruits for a longer period.