Effect of maturity stages on shelf life of papaya (Carica papaya L.)

An experiment using cv. Taiwan was 786 laid out in factorial completely randomized design with thirty treatments and three replications was, carried out at Laboratory of Horticulture Section, College of Agriculture, Dhule (M.S.) during 2017. The experiment comprised of three factors viz. two maturity stages (25% mature and 50% mature), dipping them in aqueous solutions of spermine (1.0 mM and 2.0 mM) and calcium lactate (1% and 2%) for 5 minutes and drying for 30 minutes at room temperature, three packaging materials (newspaper, shrink film and polyethylene bags) were used. Results indicated a significant impact of interaction among maturity stages, spermine and calcium lactate and packaging material on all parameters included in the study. When considered interaction, twenty five percent mature fruits dipped in (2.0 mM) spermine with shrink packaging had the minimum physiological loss in weight. This treatment also recorded the maximum peel to pulp ratio, fruit firmness. The maximum shelf life of 16 days without sacrificing organoleptic quality by manipulating the time of harvesting, packaging and application of spermine.