EFFECT OF STORAGE TEMPERATURE AND WRAPPING TREATMENTS ON THE KEEPING QUALITY OF TENDER KING COCONUT

Abstract

King coconut (Cocos nucifera var. aurantiaca) has a good exportmarket as a natural beverage. However, the quality of the nut has to bemaintained for several weeks to meet export market requirements. Therefore,the present study was undertaken to develop techniques to improve thekeeping quality of tender king coconuts. Seven-month-old nuts collected fromdifferent locations were given wrapping and waxing treatments and stored atlow temperature to improve the keeping quality up to four weeks. Invertsugars and total sugars were analyzed. Observations on cosmetic appearanceand organoleptic tests were made at initial stage and after storage. The studyrevealed that the quality of tender king coconuts could be maintained for aperiod of four weeks when the whole nuts were wrapped with cling film andstored at 14-15 °C, in order to meet export market requirements.