Background: Post-harvest losses in Carica papaya are attributed to multiple factors, including suboptimal harvesting practices, improper handling, inadequate storage conditions, inefficient packaging and transportation and the incidence of post-harvest pathogens. The implementation of effective post-harvest management strategies is essential to mitigate these losses, thereby enhancing fruit quality, ensuring nutritional availability and improving economic returns for producers. Methods: The research was undertaken at the Department of Post-harvest Technology to investigate the post-harvest interventions to enhance the shelf life and quality of papaya. The harvested red lady papaya fruits went through various postharvest treatments: T1-Hexanol (1%), T2-Hexanol (2%), T3-Chitosan (1%), T4-Chitosan (2%), T5-Salicylic acid (1 mm), T6-Salicylic acid (2 mm), T7-Potassium schoenite (1%), T8-Potassium schoenite (2%), T9-Control. They were stored in corrugated fibreboard boxes with 5 per cent ventilation at room temperature and periodically analyzed for physiological and biochemical parameters until the end of shelf life. Result: In the study, post-harvest application of 2 mm salicylic acid significantly modulated the physiological and biochemical responses of Carica papaya (L.), reducing weight loss and respiration rate while enhancing TSS, reducing, non-reducing sugar content and ascorbic acid levels. Despite temporal variation across storage intervals, this treatment consistently delayed ripening and extending the shelf life to approximately 15.98 days and preserving overall fruit quality of papaya fruits.
Kasilingam et al. (Thu,) studied this question.