Postharvest quality maintenance of W. Murcott mandarin using packaging films

The fruits of W. Murcott mandarin were evaluated for shelf life and quality attributes for two weeks under passive MAP conditions. The fruits were harvested during second week of January at optimum maturity when they attained orange colour and packed in paper molded trays followed by wrapping with different packaging films, viz. heat shrinkable film (15 μ), cling (15 μ) and LDPE (25 μ) film. After packaging, the fruits were stored under ambient conditions (18-20°C; 90-95% RH). The fruits were evaluated for various quality attributes periodically. The in-package gaseous composition (O2 and CO2) in shrink film packed fruits was found to be at desired level which resulted in maintenance of pleasant flavour of the fruits. On the other hand, LDPE film accumulated very high level of CO2, resulting in off flavour and decay of fruits in the package. The shrink film reduced the loss in weight, firmness, decay incidence and maintained various qualities attributes like total soluble solids, sugars, acidity and ascorbic acid content of the fruits during shelf-life better than unwrapped control fruits. The data revealed that packing of W. Murcott fruit in shrink film can prolong the shelf-life and maintain the quality for 10 days compared to only 5 days in case of unpacked control fruits.