A Study Investigating the Effects of Postharvest Treatments of Sodium Nitroprusside and Potato Starch on the Quality and Storage Life of Two Advertised Guava Cultivars

Abstract

The availability of fresh guava fruit in the domestic, as well as the international market, is limited due to its short postharvest life. Hence, the present research was performed to evaluate the effect of postharvest application of potato starch and sodium nitroprusside on the storage life and quality of guava fruit. Data was examined statistically using ANOVA with Fishers' least significant difference LSD test using statistics software 8.1 with 5% levels of significance difference. Treated fruits remained in storage for 15 days while the untreated fruit started decaying within 10 days of storage. The physical parameters of guava like fruit firmness, visual quality, marketability index, disease incidence, and fruit decay showed highly significant results when treated with different concentrations of potato starch and sodium nitroprusside. The sensory traits such as texture, taste, flavor, aroma, and overall acceptance were also decreased with the progress of storage days. Biochemical fruit quality traits of guava like TSS, TA, TSS/TA ratio, ascorbic acid, and Ion leakage were significantly influenced when treated with different coatings of potato starch and sodium nitroprusside and subjected to ambient storage. The phytochemical traits of guava like total phenolic contents, total antioxidant contents, and total carotenoid content showed highly significant variations among storage periods and treatments. Activities of various antioxidative enzymes such as superoxide dismutase activity, peroxidase activity POD, and catalase activity CAT exhibited highly significant differences at the end of the storage period. The potato starch and sodium nitroprusside treatments managed the postharvest quality of guava fruit by delaying fruit senescence reduction because of enhanced antioxidant enzymes. Hence, the investigation revealed that the different concentrations of potato starch and sodium nitroprusside coating improved the storage life of guava with retaining better fruit quality attributes.