Pantnagar Journal of Research

Abstract

The present study was carried out during 2023–24 at GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of ethrel on ripening, fruit quality, antioxidant properties and shelf life of sapota fruits. The experiment was conducted in a factorial Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with seven treatments and three replications. Mature fruits of sapota cv. Cricket Ball were treated with different concentrations of ethrel (500, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 ppm), calcium carbide @ 10 g kg^¹ fruits, untreated control and stored under ambient conditions. Observations were recorded at 3, 6, 9 and 12 days after treatment. Significant differences were observed among treatments for physiological loss in weight, firmness, total soluble solids, total sugars, ascorbic acid, total phenolic content, total antioxidant activity and shelf life. Fruits treated with Ethrel @ 1000 ppm showed more uniform ripening, higher TSS and total sugars, acceptable firmness, better antioxidant retention. The higher shelf life was recorded with ethrel @ 500 ppm (10.50 days), which was statistically at par with ethrel @ 1000 ppm (10.33 days). However, CaC₂ treated fruits showed rapid deterioration, poor quality retention and lowest shelf life. Overall, ethrel @ 1000 ppm provided a favourable balance between ripening uniformity, TSS and sugar accumulation, antioxidant retention and acceptable shelf life under the ambient storage conditions of the study.