A study on effect of storage of betel leaves at refrigeration temperature

Abstract

A research study was conducted for studying the storage of Madras and Kolkatta varieties of betel leaves under refrigeration temperature. The storage study for the two varieties of betel leaves at refrigeration temperature (4 °C) under different diffusion storage systems was observed for different treatments. In the treatment T2 for the Madras leaves, the concentration O2 reduced to 17.00 per cent and CO2 concentration increased to 2.40 per cent on the 18th day of storage at 4 °C. For Kolkatta leaves it was recorded that in the treatment T2, O2 concentration decreased to 13.89 per cent and CO2 concentration increased from 0.03 to 4.23 per cent on the 21th day of storage at 4 °C. It was clear that at any given time of storage, the concentration of CO2 in betel leaf samples was less at 4 °C compared to any other ambient temperature (28 °C) which could be attributed to the lower rate of respiration. Any change in temperature affected the rate of respiration and the equilibrium conditions within the package. Hence, it is clear that different varieties of betel leaves will have different rates of respiration for a particular size of diffusion channel and temperature.