Post-Harvest Quality of Fresh Akabare Chili (Capsicum chinese) as Affected by Hydrocooling, Package Modification and Storage Temperature

Abstract

Akabare chilli (Capsicum chinese) is a high-value crop in the eastern hills of Nepal. Akabare growers faced the problem of its value decrement during transportation and marketing because of immediate post-harvest losses. This study was targeted for finding cheap post-harvest treatment to extend freshness and shelf life of fresh Akabare by applying post-harvest treatments like hydrocooling, refrigerated temperature storage, and perforation mediated plastic packaging. The chemical qualities (moisture, vitamin C and chlorophyll content) were studied on a regular interval of 4 days along with visual inspection for 20 days. The package modification included unperforated as well as perforated polypropylene bags having 2, 4 and 6 perforations of 2.5 mm diameter. Samples without any treatment remained fresh only for 2 days, while only hydrocooled samples retained moisture, vitamin C and chlorophyll content significantly (p < .05) higher than untreated, in both storage temperatures. None of the samples stored at room temperature retained freshness beyond 4 days. Thus, based on the better retention of moisture and vitamin C content, hydrocooling followed by packaging in polypropylene bag (four perforations) and storage at refrigerated temperature could be considered the best post-harvest treatment and packaging.