Beeswax + Low Density Polyethylene Packaging Retard Ripening Related Changes and Preserved Postharvest Quality of Guava During Storage

Guava is a climacteric fruit, showing an increased rate of respiration and metabolic activities within a short period, leading to rapid senescence. Keeping this in view, this current experiment has been planned whereby the guava fruits coated with beeswax at 2.5% and 5.0% concentrations along with packing with low density polyethylene (LDPE) were assayed for shelf life and storability. After coatings, the fruits were packed in ventilated corrugated fiberboard (CFB) boxes and stored in the cold chamber (6–8 °C, 90–95% relative humidity [RH]) and at ambient conditions (6–24 °C, 40–75% RH). Quality analysis after 5‑day and 3‑day intervals in cold storage and ambient storage conditions, respectively, revealed that fruit firmness, ascorbic acid (AsA), acidity, sugars, total phenols, and pectin content decreased during storage, whereas weight loss (WL) and decay incidence was maintained in beeswax treated fruit compared to the control. The highest mean value of firmness, AsA, titratable acidity (TA), sugars, total phenolic content (TPC), pectin content and overall sensory quality (SQ) and lowest decay incidence, WL, and pectin methyl esterase (PME) activity were obtained from Beeswax 5% + LDPE treated guava fruits up to 20 days and 9 days of storage under cold and ambient conditions, respectively.

Graphic abstract