Effect of Postharvest Treatments on Quality of Litchi Fruits During Storage

Abstract

      Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) fruit is one of the most popular fruits in Viet Nam. However, occurrence of postharvest pericarp browning and rapid decay shorten the postharvest storage life of litchi fruit and reduce fruit quality. A study was designed to invetigate the effect of different postharvest treatments on fruit quality. Incidence of microbiological infection, weight loss, anthocyanin content and other nutrional quality attributes were determined at harvest and 10, 20, 30, 35 days after storage. Results suggested that after 35 days of storage the pericarp browning and fruit quality deterioration can be better delayed compared to the control by dipping fruits in 0.1% carbendazim, followed by 4 mM oxalic acid and finally packed in polypropylene bag with 0.008% of perforation and stored at 4 ± 1^oC and relative humidity of 75%.