3RD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON TECHNOLOGY - ENGINEERING & SCIENCE - Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia (2017-02-09)

Quality Changes In Fresh Cut Lettuce As Influenced By Various Post-harvest Treatments
The effectiveness of different postharvest treatments on the physico-chemical, microbial and sensorial attributes of fresh-cut lettuce cv. GKL-2 during refrigerated storage was studied at Postharvest Laboratory of Horticulture Section, College of Agriculture, Kolhapur. Eight different post-harvest treatments viz., ozonated water (1.2 mgL-1), sodium hypochlorite (150 ppm free chlorine for 15 min), Calcium lactate (15 gL-1 at 500C) alone or combined with ozonated water, Calcium chloride (1%), Allicin (1%) and UV-C radiations (for 30 min) along with control were used for pretreatment of fresh-cut lettuce. The changes in physico-chemical parameters were slow in the fresh-cut lettuce treated with calcium lactate (15 gL-1 at 500C) alone or in combination with ozonated water (1.2 mgL-1 for 1 min) under refrigerated storage (5±10C) up to 12 days. Decrease in percent moisture, ascorbic acid, phenol content and increase in physiological loss in weight, decay and browning was observed in all postharvest treatments. The pretreatment of lettuce with calcium lactate (15 gL-1 at 500C) followed by ozonated water (1.2 mgL-1 for 1 min) recorded minimum loss in ascorbic acid (11.513 mg per 100g), percent moisture (92.36%), physiological loss in weight (1.63%) with maximum retention of polyphenol (8.637 mg per 100g). The maximum physiological loss in weight, moisture, percent browning and decay was observed in control treatment followed by calcium chloride (1%). The pretreatments with Sodium hypochlorite (150 mgL-1 free chlorine for 15 minutes) and UV-C radiations (for 30 min) were the potential tool to control the growth of micro-organisms in fresh cut lettuce. The treatment 15 gL-1 calcium lactate at 500C followed by ozonated water @ 1.2 mgL-1 for 1 minute had maximum sensorial qualities like colour and appearance, crispness, flavor, taste with highest overall acceptability, minimum permissible microbial count which increased the shelf life of fresh-cut lettuce cv. GKL-2 up to 12 days at 5±10C.
Sangram Dhumal, Manpreet Kaur, Vishnu Garande, Deepak Patgaonkar, Supriya Patil