Influence of pretreatment on quality and shelf life of fresh cut jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.) bulbs

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of pretreatments on quality and shelf life of fresh cut jackfruit bulbs. The jackfruit bulbs were pretreated with calcium chloride 0.50 and 1.0% alone or in combination with 0.25% ascorbic acid, 10% aloe vera gel, 0.10% potassium metabisulphite. Untreated samples were used as experimental control. Jackfruit bulbs were dipped for 5 minutes and the bulbs were surface dried. Further, 250 g of jackfruit bulbs were packed in cling film wrapped bowls. Both the treated and untreated control jackfruit bulbs were stored under refrigerated condition (6-8°C). The treatments were replicated 3 times in a completely randomized design (CRD). The observations on various physico-chemical and microbial parameters were recorded both prior to storage and at periodic intervals. Jack fruit bulbs pretreated with 1% CaCl2 along with 0.25% ascorbic acid registered better in terms of maintaining quality with extended shelf life. The treatment recorded lower PLW, better retention of ascorbic acid, total carotenoids, total antioxidants and lower microbial load at the end of the experiment up to 3 weeks.