A Comprehensive Study of Hexanal Formulation on Extending Shelf Life of Custard Apple (Annona squamosa L.)

Shelf life of custard apple is limited due to climacteric nature. In the present study, two application methods along with different concentration of hexanal formulations were used, first hexanal vapour at different concentrations (0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.05% v/v) and second hexanal dip (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2% v/v) along with control were evaluated on custard apple dipping fruits for 2 min and 4 min and store at ambient temperature (27±2ºC). Hexanal filter paper dip in 0.05% concentration effectively maintained the firmness, total sugar, reducing sugar, preserved L*, a*, b* value, extend shelf life and maximum BC ratio during storage from day 1 to days 14 as compare to control. Therefore, we concluded that hexanl vapour(0.05%) was effective to use post harvest technology for custard apple.