Effect of post harvest treatments on physico chemical characteristics and shelf life of litchi Litchi chinensis Sonn fruits

Abstract

The litchi is one of the most important evergreen sub-tropical fruit plant of family newlinesapindaceae having excellent fruit quality, pleasant flavour, juicy flesh (aril) and newlineattractive appearance which is closely related to fruits like longan and rambutan. We call newlinelitchi as the queen-of-fruits because it requires highly specific climatic conditions for its newlinecultivation. The fluctuation in climates directly affects its quality characters like shape, newlinesize, texture, specific gravity, nutritive value, pH, acidity etc. Besides providing newlinelivelihood security to millions of people, queen-of-fruits is a rich source of sugars, newlineminerals and vitamin B. Litchi honey excels in quality as compared to other honey newlineavailable in the country. newlineIndia has emerged as the second largest producer of litchi in the world with, a newlinetotal production of 4.18 lakh MT from the 69.2 thousand hectare area and productivity newline10.3 metric tones per ha. (NHB,2008). Litchi, the fruit of high commerce, is rightly newlinenicknamed as queen-of-fruits. Since its fruits are very delicate and lose their shape and newlineoverall beauty within 24-36 hours. The famous Chinese proverb also explain, once litchi newlinefruit detached from the tree, off-colour happens in the first day; off-fragrance in the newlinesecond day; off-flavour in the third and all gone after four to five days . Due to the highly newlineperishable nature of the fruit litchi needs proper handling and storage. The most important newlinepost harvest need of litchi is the retention of fruit colour and quality for longer period so newlinethat the marketing be regulated to avoid the glut and ensure better return to the growers. newlineLimited number of processing industries located near to potential area of litchi newlineproduction, are unable to conserve the produce within the short span of availability. Not a newlinesingle cool house is available for holding the litchi fruits for longer duration. The newlineorchardist and producers are unaware of any suitable technology which can enhance the newlineshelf-life and maintain the quality of litchi.