Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) is a highly perishable product and rarely to be kept for more than 7 days. Cold chain system is the only methods apply in Malaysia strawberry industry to prolong the shelf life and preserve the quality of strawberry. UV light treatment proved to be effective in inhibit microbial loads and delay ripening process of fruit products where short wavelength (254 nm) ultraviolet-C was proved in keeping the freshness and quality of fruits or vegetables. This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of UV-C irradiation on extending shelf life and to determine the optimum radiation intensity of UV-C treatment on postharvest quality of treated strawberry. A total of 399 of strawberries cv. Festival were harvested in red colour with maturity stage of >80 – 85% from Cameron Highlands’s strawberry farm. The strawberries were exposed to different doses (0, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 and 1.0 kJ/m2) of ultraviolet-C (254nm, UV-C) radiation. The treated strawberries were randomly placed in the polystyrene trays and stored in the dark chilling room at -5Cº for 9 days. The significant differences were found when the highest level of dosage was applied. UV-C treated strawberries with the highest doses (1.0 kJ/mº) are significantly firmer (0.557N), higher total soluble solids content (7.5 ºBrix) and ascorbic acid contain (0.518mg/ml) on day 9 (p
Tomato is fruit vegetables sustaining valuable benefits in economy and nutrition. It has a high content of Vitamin C and lycopene. Being a climacteric fruit, tomato is perishable and has a short shelf life. To improve the storage quality of tomato, the effect of hot water treatment and calcium dips on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) was studied. Tomato fruits were dipped in two temperatures (40°C and 50°C) of the hot water bath for 2 minutes before treatment of 2% calcium chloride for 2 minutes. The fruits were stored at 10°C ± 2°C in the cold room at a relative humidity of 80-95%. Changes in weight loss, firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, and lycopene content were observed and recorded on 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 days of storage. Hot water treatment at 50°C with 2% of calcium chloride can control the weight loss and firmness of tomato with the low level of total soluble solids and acidity and retained the level of ascorbic acid. This treatment prone to extend shelf life, delay ripening and retained the postharvest quality of tomato.
Purpose: Chilli production in Malaysia is declining due to production problems such as pest and diseases which cause plants to become stunted, unhealthy, and damaged. To overcome this problem, most farmers prefer using chemical fertilizers and pesticides due to their fast reaction and effectiveness. In long term, application of these chemicals input may lead to an environmental damage and human health problems. To conserve our nature, the use of natural input in agriculture is highly recommended.Research Method: This study was conducted to identify the potential of plant extract, namely kaffir lime in increasing the plant productivity and reducing the severity of pests for chilli trees. The study was performed by spraying the chilli trees with 25, 50, and 75% (v/v) kaffir lime extracts. Controls consisted of plants without any treatment as negative control and plants applied with a commercial chemical pesticide as positive control.Findings: Results indicated that there were significant differences (p<0.05) between treatments with respect to all parameters including pre-harvest (plant height and pest severity) and postharvest (fresh weight and number of chilli pods) parameters except for the stem and crown diameter, soluble solid concentration, fruit firmness and colour measurement of chilli. The results found that chilli plants sprayed with 25% kaffir lime extract had the lowest pest infestation. Moreover, application of the 25% kaffir lime extract had produced the heaviest weight of chilli fruits and the highest number of chilli pods compared to other treatments including the positive control (chemical pesticide). Therefore, it was concluded that 25% kaffir lime extract produced healthier chilli plants, higher yield and better quality of chilli.Originality/ Value: Limited number of studies are available on effectiveness of kaffir lime-based insecticides. Therefore, this study was conducted as an effort towards understanding the versatility of kaffir lime leaves extraction as an alternative pesticide on chilli plants' pre-and postharvest performance.
Christia vespertilionis also known as butterfly wing plant is an ornamental and valuable medicinal plant grown in tropical and subtropical regions. Despite the importance, not much attention has been given to study economical propagation methods of C. vespertilionis. This work aims to evaluate between sexual (seeds) and vegetative (cuttings and in vitro) propagation techniques in terms of their viability and growth. Pretreatment of seeds showed that wet paper towel was observed induced a higher percentage of germination rate as compared to other treatments. A comparison between two types of cuttings indicated semi hardwood part propagated better than the softwood part. In the present study, in vitro shoot proliferation was obtained by culturing nodal node segments in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/L of 6-Benzyl amino purine (BAP). However, no root development was observed when well-developed shoots were transferred on rooting medium supplemented with various concentrations of Indolebutyric acid (IBA). We conclude that C. vespertilionis appear to propagate easily using seeds and semi-woody cuttings. Further investigation of in vitro propagation could potentially be used for future conservation and sustainable production of C. vespertilionis.
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