Journal of Horticulture and Postharvest Research
Volume:6 Issue: 1, Mar 2023

The aim of this study was to determine the most appropriate harvesting time and to evaluate the storage period of some new quince cultivar and the promising genotype.

The fruits of ‘Isfahan’ and ‘Behta’ cultivars along with NB4 promising genotype were harvested on 6th, 14th, and 21st October from Isfahan Agricultural Research Station, Iran. The fruits were transferred to the storage and placed at a temperature of 0±1°C and relative humidity of 90±5%. Traits were evaluated at harvesting time and also at one-month intervals for five months after storage using a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design.

The highest percentage of total soluble solids (TSS) was obtained in the third harvesting time and after five months of storage for ‘Isfahan’. The highest firmness was obtained at the first harvesting time without storage for ‘Behta’. ‘Isfahan’ at the time of the second and third harvest showed the highest total phenol content and ‘Behta’ at the first harvest and five months after storage showed the lowest value of this trait. The most weight loss was observed in ‘Isfahan’ in the third harvest and the fifth month of storage. Experimental treatments had no effect on pectin content. The highest surface browning was observed in the third harvest and the fifth month of storage.

No limitations were found.

Originality/Value: 

The best harvest time for ‘Isfahan’, ‘Behta’, and NB4 was similarly 193 days after flowering. As well as storage of these fruits for four months is recommended.

This work was carried out to investigate the effect of moisture content on the engineering properties of African Yam Bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) seeds.

Physical and mechanical properties of African Yam Bean seeds were evaluated. The physical and mechanical properties were evaluated at five moisture content levels of 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24% dry basis (d.b).

From the physical properties, the average length, width, thickness, arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter and equivalent diameter were found to increase significantly (P≤0.05) with an increase in moisture content. The surface areas, volume, sphericity, aspect ratio, flakiness ratio, porosity, static angle of repose, dynamic angle of repose and static coefficient of friction of the seeds were also found to increase significantly (P≤0.05) with increasing seed moisture content. The mean results of seed densities showed a decrease in bulk density (0.840±0.045 to 0.806±0.074 g/cm3) and true density (1.268±0.083 to 1.238±0.079 g/cm3) with the increase in seed moisture content from 8% to 24 % (d.b). From the mechanical properties, the mean force, deformation, strain and energy for African yam bean seeds decreased significantly (P≤0.05) with the increase in moisture content. The mechanical properties evaluated showed a decrease in the force at peak (176.564±20.137 to 104.860±9.814 N), force at yield (168.548±24.049 to 84.694±53.464 N) and force at break (172.880±19.506 to 96.986±14.536 N) with the increase in seed moisture content from 8% to 24 % (d.b).

Research limitations: 

No limitation to the report, yet, the study cannot claim to have exhausted all factors that influence engineering properties of African Yam Seed; thus, effects of other factors such as accessions, varieties, cultivars and species is recommended for further studies.

Originality/Value:

 The results provide relevant data on efficient process handling and equipment design of the seeds to the engineers and designers.

Managing postharvest losses to extend shelf life and cut down on waste is of paramount importance nowadays, especially when resources are scarce. Extracts from the leaves of the cannonball tree and electrolyzed oxidizing water were employed to improve postharvest handling procedures.

The experiment consisted of cannonball tree leaf extracts (5 ml/L, 10 ml/L, 15 ml/L, 20 ml/L) and two pH levels of electrolyzed oxidizing water (pH 3, pH 5). Tomato treated with distilled water was considered as a control. The experiment was conducted as a Completely Randomized Design under a factorial arrangement with three replications.

  Cannonball tree leaf extracts (10 ml/L) significantly retained acceptable fruit color, firmness, high level of titratable acidity, flavonoid, carotenoid, anthocyanin, vitamin C, IC50 and prolonged shelf life by more than three days over other treatment combinations. Compared to untreated fruit, treated fruit decayed at a slower rate (30.7 0.4%) and lost less weight (35.4 0.7%). Additionally, electrolyzed oxidizing water (pH 5) significantly outperformed alternative postharvest management techniques to lower postharvest losses, IC50 (121.6 2.1 mg/Kg) activity, enhancing titratable acidity and vitamin C content, and other physico-chemical attributes and thereby increasing tomato shelf life by more than two days.

Research limitations: 

No limitations were encountered.

Originality/Value: 

Electrolyzed oxidizing water (pH 5) or cannonball tree leaf extract (10 ml/L) appears to be the most promising sustainable solution for reducing postharvest tomato losses.

Considering the high perishability of agricultural products, especially vegetables, it is very important to use edible coating materials that increase their postharvest life and are edible and non-chemical.

In this study, the effect of tragacanth gum coatings (0, 5, 7.5, and 10 g.L-1) on the edible quality of tomato fruits cv. Falkato was investigated during 35 days of storage (15 °C and 85-95% relative humidity). The fruits were immersed in tragacanth gum solutions for three minutes and carefully weighed and labeled and packed after drying. During storage time, every one week (7 days) fruits were removed and the fruit weight loss, pH, soluble solids concentration (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), fruit firmness, shrinkage, and decay index were measured and compared with the uncoated sample (distilled water treatment).

According to the results the tragacanth gum coating significantly reduced the percentage of fruit weight loss and improved the quality of tomato fruits such as firmness, SSC and TA compared to the control sample. So, coated fruits showed better edible quality than uncoated fruits. Then tragacanth gum is recommended for use after harvesting the tomato fruit.

Research limitations:

 No limitations were founded.

Originality/Value: 

In this research, for the first time, the effect of tragacanth gum coatings on the storage life of tomatoes was investigated.

This study was undertaken to investigate the influence of harvest maturity and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment on exocarp colour development and chilling injury of ‘Hass’ avocado fruit during ripening.

‘Hass’ avocado fruit harvested at three different maturity stages, early (21% DM), mid-(28% DM) and late (35% DM) were treated with 300 g mol-1 of 1-MCP for 16 hours and stored at 5.5 °C for 28 days, subsequently, ripened at 21 °C. The physico-chemicals quality parameters evaluated every 2 days includes exocarp subjective (visual colour), objective (lightness-L*, chroma-C* and hue angle-ho), chlorophyll-a and -b, total anthocyanin, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and chilling injury.

1-MCP delayed ripening for early and mid-matured fruit and extended ripening by 2-4 days when compared with untreated fruit. In this study, exocarp colour development of ‘Hass’ avocado fruit was improved by 1-MCP treatment as measured visual and objectively. The accumulation of total anthocyanins and cyanidin 3-O-glucosides in 1-MCP-treated fruit was slower than that in untreated fruit, however, 1-MCP treatment was associated with higher concentrations after fruit had reached ‘eat-ripe’ firmness, irrespective of maturity. The study found that 1-MCP reduced the development of chilling injury symptoms for early harvested and mid-harvested ‘Hass’ avocado fruit.

Research limitations: 

The main limitation of the present study is the lack of evaluation of ethylene production.

Originality/Value: 

The study found that different maturity stages of ‘Hass’ avocado fruit responded differently to 1-MCP treatment. Thus, 1-MCP had a positive effect on early and mid-harvest fruit exocarp colour and CI development during ripening.

Barberry has been used for many centuries due to its highly nutritious benefits, ornamental value, and medicinal properties. Iran is the largest producer of seedless barberry and this has been growing in various regions with dry climates, poor soil conditions and severe water shortages. Alternative bearing is a frequent problem in seedless barberry production. To avoid it, thinning has been employed as a common cultural practice in orchard management.

In this study, three chemical thinners including gibberellic acid (GA3) at 75, 100 and 150 mg/L, naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) at 10, 20 and 40 mg/L and ethephon at 50, 100 and 200 mg/L, and hand thinning (20%) were applied in a commercial orchard in Birjand, Iran, one week after petal fall. Thinning rate, quantitative and qualitative traits were investigated in comparison to the control in the split plot arrangement in a randomized complete block design during 2015 and 2016.

Results showed that NAA at 10 mg/L caused the highest fruit abscission. Vegetative traits such as shoot length, number of leaves per shoot and leaf area showed significant increases under the treatments while shoot diameter had no significant difference with control. Chemical thinning remarkably enhanced the starch and sugar of the shoots, especially in “on” year (2015). The minimum chlorophyll content in “off” year was observed in control and the highest by NAA at 10 ppm. All the treatments increased seedless barberry shrub yield in the “off” year (2016). Biochemical traits such as ascorbic acid, total soluble solids, titratable acidity and anthocyanin improved in most treatments.

Research limitations: 

No limitations were encountered.

Originality/Value: 

To avoid alternative bearing in seedless barberry shrubs, thinning has been employed as a common cultural practice in orchard management. So, the application of NAA 10 mg/l is recommended for control of alternative bearing and also better fruit quality.

One of the most important subtropical fruits in Iran is Japanese persimmon. Persimmon is a climacteric fruit and continues to ripening after the harvest. One of the main quality components in persimmon fruit is its appearance due to the presence of different carotenoid pigments. Persimmon has also high antioxidant capacity. The use of LED lights is one of the most important commercial techniques to increase the quality and postharvest life of the fruits. In the present study, the effect of LED lights on the coloring and antioxidant capacity of persimmon fruit was studied.

The Karaj genotype of persimmon was harvested at commercial stage and exposed to white and red LED lights (at intensity of 40-60 candle/W) up to 21 days at 10°C and 80% RH, as the control fruit was stored at dark conditions.

The results showed that the samples of red LED light had higher color index and lower hue° and L * values as compared to control or white LED light samples. Therefore, the red light induced the coloring in persimmon fruit, but the white light did not show such an effect. Also, both white and red LED lights have resulted in better preservation and increased antioxidant capacity in persimmon fruit as compared to control.

Research limitations:

 No limitations were encountered.

Originality/Value: 

based on the results of this experiment, LED lights are effective treatments in maintaining and increasing the quality of Japanese persimmon at the postharvest stage, and have potential to further investigation and commercialization.

In some orchards in the harvest season, the pomegranates are suspected to carob moth infestation. Visible infested fruits are removed but there is a possibility of hidden infestation. The effect of microwave heating on this hidden infestation was investigated in this study.

 Research Method:

The mature pomegranate fruits were artificially infested with the eggs or larvae (1st, 2nd and 3rd) of the carob moth inside the crown. Microwave radiation was focused on the crown zone of infested pomegranate with a novel setup and its effect on pest mortality was studied. The experiments were carried out at three microwave powers (540, 720 and 900 W) and three heating times (4, 6 and 8 minutes). In order to study the effect of microwave heating treatments on pomegranate, quality parameters including appearance, weight loss, total soluble solids (TSS), pH, titratable acidity (TA) and taste index (TSS/TA) of the samples were investigated after 60 days’ storage.

The egg and larval mortality rose with microwave power and heating time. The mortality was reduced with increasing the age of pest. There were no significant differences among values of quality factors except for titratable acidity. Because of 100% mortality with no significant differences on quality parameters, 6 min treatment time with 720 microwave power was selected as the optimum treatment.

Research limitations:

 Energy consumption in microwave heating limits the application of this method in practice.

Originality/Value: 

Microwave local heating of the pomegranate crown is an effective novel method to remove carob moth in hidden infestation.