Physiological Studies of Maturity Stages and Some Postharvest Treatments of Loquat Fruits cv. Emanuel

doi:10.21608/ejoh.2015.1281

Physiological Studies of Maturity Stages and Some Postharvest Treatments of Loquat Fruits cv. Emanuel

Document Type : Original Article

10.21608/ejoh.2015.1281

Abstract

AFOUR-YEAR study was conducted during four successive growing seasons of 2010/2011 up to 2013/2014 at the experimental orchard of the Horticulture Research Station at El kanater El khayreia, Kalubia Governorate, Egypt. It included two parts: Part I, studied maturity indices of Loquat fruits (Eriobotrya japonica, lindl.) cv. Emanuel in 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons. Part II, studied effect of some post harvest treatments i.e dipping Loquat fruits in acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) solutions at (0.0 mmol / L, 1.0 mmol / L and 2.0 mmol / L), on fruit quality during cold storage (0C) in 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons through determination of decayed fruits %, changes in weight loss, firmness, colour, total soluble solids (TSS), total acidity (TA), TSS/TA ratio, ascorbic acid (vit.C), colour and shelf life .
Results indicated that Loquat fruits reached maturity after 104-108 days from full bloom, attained average fruit weight 20.75g, length 4.31cm, diameter 2.6 cm, pulp thickness 1.1cm, fruit firmness 57.7g/ mm
2, yellow colour L value 67.84, Hue angle value 98.95 ,TSS 10.2% ,TA 1.1%, and Vit.C 3.25 mg/100g f.w. Also, results showed that storability of Loquat fruits could be prolonged up to 8 weeks by dipping in ASA solutions during cold storage at 0C and shelf life of fruits was extended to 6 days at room temperature, especially the high concentration.

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