Enhancement of sweet pepper fruits quality and storability by some postharvest treatments

Abstract EN

Sweet pepper fruit is one of the most sensitive crops to postharvest conditions.

Storage and handling procedure of sweet pepper fruits lead to remarkable reduction in the fruit quality.

The objective of this study is to enhance fruit quality and storability by some postharvest treatments with 1.5% of 1-Methylcyclopropene for 5 minutes, 1.5% calcium chloride CaCl₂ for 5 minutes, hot water at 45°C for 2 minutes or tap water for 5 minutes which served as control.

Sweet pepper fruits were harvested with 75% fruit coloration.

The results clearly indicated that dipping of sweet pepper fruits in a solution of 1.5% of 1-Methylcyclopropene for 5 minutes reduced the weight loss and maintained fruit firmness, total soluble solids, ascorbic acid content and external surface color, compared to the other treatments.

The observed effects of 1-Methylcyclopropene on the fruit quality and storability could be due to its effect on Polyphenol oxidase (ppo), whereas the activity of ppo was inhibited by 1-Methylcyclopropene.

Also, 1-Methylcyclopropene and calcium chloride treatments reduced the decay and maintained general appearance compared to other treatments.