Plant Foods for Human Nutrition 55: 279–284, 2000.
© 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
Post harvest physiconutritional changes in Kagzi limes
(Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) treated with selected oil
emulsions and diphenyl
PIYUSH VERMA and L.K. DASHORA
Department of Horticulture, Rajasthan Agricultural University, Rajasthan College of
Agriculture, Udaipur 313 001, India
Received 10 March 1999; accepted in revised form 20 March 2000
Abstract. Influence of oil emulsions and diphenyl on post-harvest physiconutritional changes
in Kagzi limes (Citrus aurantifolia) was studied. During twelve days of storage, physiological
loss in weight (PLW) and rotting were at a minimum in fruits treated with Neem (Azadir-
achta indica A. Juss.) oil plus diphenyl; juice content was at a maximum in mustard oil
+ diphenyl treated fruits. With the advancement of storage period, total soluble solids were
increased while ascorbic acid and acidity of fruits decreased. Mustard oil plus diphenyl sup-
ported maximum ascorbic acid (25.60 mg/100 ml juice) and minimum total soluble solids
(9.03%).
Key words: Citrus aurantifolia, Diphenyl, Oil emulsion, Post-harvest physico-nutritional
Introduction
Among citrus, Kagzi limes (Citrus aurantifolia) are popular for their attract-
ive color, distinctive flavor and vitamin C content. They have a great variety
of uses, culinary, beverages, pickles and medicinal. The fruit is subject to
spoilage due to glut. A number of techniques have evolved like controlled
atmosphere storage, modified atmosphered storage, refrigerated storage, and
coating materials to minimize the post-harvest losses. Recently, the use of oils
in many cases has not only kept the fruits in good physiological condition
for a few weeks but also retarded decay losses. The efficiency of oils can
be enhanced by incorporation of fungicides like diphenyl [1]. It would be
advantageous for both citrus growers and traders if an easy, acceptable tech-
nique were developed for extending the post-harvest shelf life of the fruits
with a minimum loss in their physiconutritional properties. This experiment
was, therefore, conducted to evaluate the effect of different oil emulsions and
diphenyl treatments on shelf life of Kagzi limes (Citrus aurantifolia).