Application of Nitric Acid, Oxalic Acid and Ascorbic Acid to Reduce Browning and Post-Harvest Loses of Litchi (Litchi Chinensis) Fruit Under Cold Storage

Abstract

Umar Hayat, Ijaz Hussain, Cao Ke, Amina Qamar, Sohail Aslam, Sughra Bibi, Alexander Yesaya, Qingtao Wang, Akhi Badrunnesa, Hussain Shah, Zhenyu Yao, Ravelomanana Julio Stanislas, Imtiaz Ahmed and Mu-hammad Abbas Khan

Litchi is a climacteric fruit that exhibits faster rate of repair and keeps getting riper even after being harvested. The increasing water content also renders litchi fruit more susceptible to post-harvest deterioration and disease attack, shortening the fruit’s shelf life. The Present research titled “Application of Nitric acid, Oxalic acid and Ascorbic acid to reduce browning and post-harvest loses of litchi (Litchi Chinensis) fruit under cold storage” was carried out to examine the combine application of Nitric acid, Oxalic acid and Ascorbic acid on pericarp browning of litchi cultivar ‘Bedana’ under cold storage. The study was conducted at Horticulture laboratory in ‘The University of Haripur’ during 2021. Litchi fruits cultivar ‘Bedana’ were dipped for 15 minutes in each treatment 0.5% nitric acid+1% oxalic acid + 1% ascorbic acid, 1% nitric acid + 2% oxalic acid + 2% ascorbic acid and 1.5% nitric acid + 3% oxalic acid + 3% ascorbic acid, stored for 12 days under cold storage at 4±1 oC. Data on different parameters was recorded after each 3 days’ interval. Results demonstrated that combine application of 1.5% nitric acid + 3% oxalic acid + 3% ascorbic acid decreased POD (2.5 U mg-1 protein) and increased in total antioxidants (52.0 mg 100 mL-1), CAT (39.2 U mg-1 protein) and SOD (48.7 U mg-1 protein) while, the untreated fruits (control) showed an increased in TPC (14.2 mg GAE/100g), and POD (2.5 U mg-1 protein) and decreased CAT (36.5 U mg-1 protein ) and SOD (43.5 U mg-1 protein) therefore, combine application of 1.5% nitric acid + 3% oxalic acid + 3% ascorbic acid is recommends to enhance litchi storage life and to reduce the pericarp browning and fruit decay of litchi under cold storage.

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