Abstract:
Sapota is one other commercial fruits sensitively establishing both external and internal chilling injury symptoms when stored at inappropriately low temperature. Applications of heat and Calcium Chloride (CaCl 2) treatments were therefore introduced to sapota (Archras sapota Linn. cv. Ma-Kok) fruit in order to study physiological-biochemical changes and effects on chilling injury during storage at low temperature. for heat treatments, sapota fruits at 80% maturity were incubated in hot air oven at 2 levels of temperature, 35 and 40 C. at 80 % RH for 3,6 and 12 hr whereas for CaCl 2 treatment ,fruits were dipped in 0, 2 and 5% CaCl 2 solution for 30 and 60 min. In addition, combinations between heat and CaCl 2 treatment were also investigated. Brougth to analyse fruit quality every 5 day , fruits of all treatments were stored 8 C (85-90% RH), a lower temperature than the optimum temperature for sapota storage. The consequences revealed that untreated fruits (control) showed unacceptable chilling injury on peel after 20 day of storage while heated fruits effectively decreased chilling injury symptom that fruits heated at 40 C and 12 hr could keep the quality at least 30 day affter storege without external chilling injury . Heated friuts, however, seemed to be slightly increased of weight loss and made the fruits essier to wilt. On the other hand ,fruit dipped in distilled water (0% cCaCl 2) rapidly released external injury and developed the symptom faster and severer than each other . Dipping fruits in 5 % CaCl 2 for 30 min is a good condition for reducing external chilling injury. IN the same way, dipping in CaCl 2 gave a trend to well delay fruit senescence during storage. The combination study indicated that fruits incubated with hot air at 35 C for 12 hr and then dipped in 5 % CaCl 2 for 30 min Kept the fruit quality accepted by consumer untill 40 days of storage. This suggests that the combinations between heat and CaCl 2 presented more posittive results than either heat or CaCl 2 treatment.