Effect of pre-harvest treatment of organic manures and inorganic fertilizers on post harvest shelf-life of sapota cv. Kalipatti

Abstract

Ten different pre-harvest treatments were applied on sapota cv. Kalipatti viz., T1-25 kg FYM + 400 + 60 + 300 g NPK/tree,T2-25 kg FYM + 350 + 60 + 250 g NPK/tree, T3-25 kg FYM + 300 + 60 + 200 g NPK/tree, T4-25 kg FYM + 250 + 60 + 150 g NPK/tree, T5-25 kg FYM alone/tree, T6-5 kg vermicompost + 250 + 60 + 300 g NPK/tree, T7-5 kg vermicompost + 350 + 60 + 250 g NPK/tree, T8-5 kg vermicompost + 300 + 60 + 200 g NPK/tree, T9-5 kg vermicompost + 250 + 60 + 150 g NPK/tree and T10-5 kg vermicompost alone/tree. Among all pre-harvest treatments, 5 kg vermicompost + 400 + 60 + 300 g NPK/tree was found to be superior in respect of extending post-harvest shelf-life as well as other physico-chemical parameters, viz., volume, peel weight, pulp weight, colour acceptance, TSS, reducing sugar, non reducing sugar, acidity and vitamin-C content, while maximum firmness of fruits was found under 25 kg FYM + 400 + 60 + 300 g NPK/tree. Organoleptic test in respect of colour and texture was more acceptable under 5 kg vermicompost + 400 + 60 + 300 kg NPK/tree while flavour and taste was superior under 25 kg FYM alone/tree.