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Studies have shown that laboratory made ethylene absorbents particularly Silica gel-permanganate and Celite-permanganate mixture can be used as post harvest treatment for enhancing the storability of pointed gourd fruits under ambient storage conditions (temperature 29.4-33.2°C and 68-73% RH) packed in 50μ polypropylene bags (20cm x 17cm size). There were seven treatments, replicated thrice and experiment was laid out in completely randomized design. The fruits stored with Celite-KMnO4 mixture maintained higher sensory score of 7.67 in storage. The physiological loss in weight of fruits with Celite-KMnO4 mixture documented minimum weight loss of 0.10% after 2 days and maximum of 1.47% at the end of storage. The fruits treated with Celite+KMnO4 (4 and 8 g/kg) recorded no spoilage (0.00 %) respectively up to 8 days in storage. Celite+KMnO4 4 and 8g/kg showed higher disease reduction index (100.00 respectively) upto end of storage period. The chlorophyll content remained high on 4th day, 6th day as well as on 8th days in storage with maximum retention of chlorophyll a (4.46 mg/g), chlorophyll b (2.13 mg/g) and total chlorophyll (6.58 mg/g) in Celite+KMnO4 (8 g/kg) mixture. Hence, it is concluded that pointed gourd fruits stored with Celite-permanganate mixture can preserve the major post harvest attributes.
Keywords: Ethylene Absorbents, Silica Gel, Celite, Permanganate, Storage.