Shelf life and quality of apple at ambient conditions affected by different concentrations of Aloe vera gel and neem oil

In the present investigation, four varieties of apple viz., Skyline Supreme, Starkrimson, Oregon Spur and Prima were treated with different concentrations of Aloe vera gel (0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0%) and neem oil (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5%) to study their effect on shelf life and quality during storage. The fruits were dipped in the aqueous solutions for half an hour, shade dried and subjected to storage at ambient temperature (1820°C) having relative humidity of 80–85%. A significant difference in the physico-chemical characters of these varieties was recorded due to their genetic makeup. During storage PLW (%), TSS (^oB), titratable acidity (%), ascorbic acid (mg/100g), carotene (μg/100g and total antioxidants (mMTE/L) were found to decrease significantly in all the treatments irrespective of concentration. However, the reduction was recorded faster in the control whereas it was slower with the increase in the concentration of Aloe vera gel and neem oil. Among the varieties, Starkrimson had minimum PLW (5.70%) followed by Oregon Spur (5.89%) and Skyline Supreme (6.62%) after 35 days of storage at ambient temperature. The study revealed that the postharvest shelf life of apple can be increased significantly by the application of Aloe vera gel or neem oil.