Oxidation of anthocyanin by polyphenol oxidase (PPO) or peroxidase (POD) causes enzymatic browning. It leads to undesirable characteristics of fruits and ultimately decreasing of fruit quality and value. Desiccation, post-harvest decay, loss of quality and micro cracking are the other most important problems restricting the growth of the litchi industry. Based on the fact, glutathione and citric acid inhibits the browning mechanism, the novel strategies of combining glutathione + citric acid with different packaging materials were used to improve litchi storability at refrigerated and room temperature. From the experiment, it was observed that, the application of glutathione (10 mmol/litre) and citric acid (100 mmol/litre) + polypropylene packet + corrugated fiber box gave good control on browning, weight loss, disease incidence and higher amount of anthocyanin in the litchi pericarp. High amount of TSS, total sugar, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid were also achieved in same treatments. Litchi fruits treated with combined application of glutathione and citric acid with packaging materials showed promising method to controlling browning and all the other quality parameters.
Abstract