Background: Avocado (Persea americana Mill), is a subtropical, evergreen fruit tree belonging to the family Lauraceae. Due to the unique climacteric nature of the fruit, avocado starts ripening immediately after harvest and have poor post harvest life. Since thermal processing has adverse effects on the fruit quality, avocado processing is challenging. Methods: Avocado fruit slices were subjected to quick freezing (-20oC within 30 minutes) after pre-treatment with sucrose (20-40%), ascorbic acid (0.5%) along with one of the antimicrobial compounds like potassium metabisulphite, sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate (0.1%) and subsequently packed in 200 gauge LDPE pouches stored at -18oC. Result: Avocado slices treated with 40% sucrose, 0.5% ascorbic acid along with 0.1% potassium metabisulphite (T7) recorded with higher ascorbic acid (92 mg/100 g) after one month and total protein (1.43 g/100 g) content after three months of storage and desirably lowest values in polyphenol oxidase activity throughout the storage, peroxide value (15.56 mEq/kg) and water activity (0.956) after one month of storage was observed as the best method of preservation.
The study was carried out to investigate the influence of plant growth promoters and systems of growing on physiological parameters of Dendrobium cv. EARSAKUL. The main objective was to assess the response of combination of nutrients, plant growth regulators and plant growth promoting root endophyte (PGPRE) in two age groups of Dendrobium cv. EARSAKUL plants (six month old and three year old at planting time) under three growing systems viz., two level shade house (S 1), top ventilated polyhouse (S 2) and fan and pad system (S 3). Results revealed that leaf area (29.99 m 2), relative growth rate (0.013 g g-1 day-1) and number of stomata (41.14) were highest in six month old plants, whereas, dry matter production (20.92 g plant-1) and crop growth rate (0.148 g m-2 day-1) were highest in three year old plants in the treatment POP + OM + VW + PGPRE + bone meal + GR (T 4). Dry matter production (14.27 g plant-1), crop growth rate (0.131 g m-2 day-1), rate of photosynthesis (6.36 µmol CO 2 m-2 s-1) and transpiration rate (6.56 µmol m-2 s-1) during day time were highest in the treatment POP + OM + VW + PGPRE + bone meal (T 3) in six month old plants. Among the systems of growing, maximum values for physiological parameters were recorded in top ventilated polyhouse. The interaction of plant growth promoters and systems of growing had significant effect on physiological parameters.
Pesticide application plays a major role in environmental hazards associated with over application and off-target movement of toxic pesticides from inefficient spray application. The introduction of electrically charged sprays for agricultural application can provide greater control of droplet transport with impending reduction of wastage. The study aims to compare the efficacy of electrostatic sprayer on pest control in comparison with mist blower (air assisted sprayer) and air compression sprayer (hydraulic sprayer). Six pests were viz. pumpkin beetle, cowpea aphid, cucurbit fruit fly, brinjal mealy bug, caterpillar and chilli mite were selected based on specific characteristics viz. integumental, movement and ecological niche. Energy use efficiency in production and application of pesticides used by different sprayers for the control of selected pests were quantified based on application efficiency of sprayers, Pre and Post pest count and the reoccurrence of pest infestation after spray. The energy use efficiency of electrostatic sprayer was found to be 1.5 times more than that of mist blower and 2 times more than that of air compression sprayers. In the chemical usage by electrostatic sprayer was reduced by 65 per cent and that of knapsack mist blower was 35 per cent with air compression sprayers. The post pest count was almost nil in all the categories of pest while applying with electrostatic sprayer and the reoccurrence of the pest to the threshold level was minimum. This contributed a significant increase in energy use efficiency of electrostatic sprayer, when it considered globally.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.