Abstract
This experiment was started at the Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad during 2014-15
to investigate the response of calcium chloride to reduce rotting and to maintain the quality related parameters during the
cold storage of Kinnow mandarin fruit. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized design (CRD) with factorial
arrangement. Fruits were harvested from Sq. No. 9 and brought into the Lab., UAF. Fruits were dipped 10 mints in 0, 2, 3
and 4% CaCl2 solution and stored at 5°C at 85 to 90% relative humidity for 90 days. The data was recorded every 15 days’
interval during the storage. It was observed after 90 days storage that CaCl2 @ 4% reduced fruit rot percentage from 11.68 to
1.33% and all treated fruit maintained their firmness better than untreated. Lower loss in fruit weight (7.39%) was also found
in fruits of same treatment as compared to untreated fruit where it was 14.59% after 90 days’ storage. Maximum TSS
(9.41°brix), ascorbic acid contents (50.95mg100g-1
), total sugar contents (14.90%), reducing sugars (8.32%) were also found
from the juice of fruit those were treated with 4% CaCl2. However, TPC (218.44mg GAE 100g-1
), TAC (64.29% inhibition),
CAT (25.66mg/protein), POD (0.55U mg/ protein) and SOD (128.69U mg/ protein) were more in 3% CaCl2 after 90 days’
storage as compared to the fruits those were treated with 4% CaCl2 where these were (217.89mg GAE 100g-1
), (61.83%
inhibition), (24.17U mg-1 protein), (0.53U mg-1 protein), (126.13U mg-1 protein). It was observed that per-storage treatment
of 4% CaCl2 for Kinnow mandarin is most effective but it reduced the contents of TPC, TAC, CAT, POD and SOD. It is
concluded that 3-4% calcium chloride reduced the rotting percentage and maintained the quality of Kinnow mandarin for 90
days cold storage.
