Vol. 8, Issue 9, Part B (2024)

Abstract: The present investigation entitled “Effect of different natural edible waxes on post-harvest quality and shelf life of red cherry tomato fruit (Solanum lycopersicum L.) during storage” was undertaken at Processing Laboratory of Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture, Raipur, during the year 2023-2024 employing completely randomized design having 11 treatments and three replications. The five edible waxes used in the experiment and each treatment consisted two different concentrations viz. T0: Control, T₁: chitosan (0.25%), T₂: chitosan (0.5%), T₃: beeswax (10%) T₄: beeswax (5%), T₅: aloe vera gel (15%), T₆: aloe vera gel (10%), T₇: guar gum (0.5%), T₈: guar gum (1%), T₉: carnauba wax (1%), T₁₀: carnauba wax (2%). At every 5 days of interval, all the parameters were recorded till 20^th days of storage. Amongst the different treatments 10% beeswax emulsion coated fruit was recorded minimum weight loss % (1.34, 1.52, 1.69, 1.76%) as compared to control during 20th days of storage. Similarly, maximum firmness of tomato fruits (2.56, 2.23, 1.86, 1.72 & 1.67N) was observed under the superiority of treatment 10% beeswax emulsion coated fruits during storage period. The treatment beeswax emulsion (10%) registered minimum total soluble solids (5.78ºB), pH (4.11) and lycopene content (5.34mg/100 g). However, the titratable acidity (0.44%) and ascorbic acid (19.89mg/100 g) of cherry tomato fruits was recorded maximum on 20th day of storage under ambient condition.