Post harvest treatments to control eggplant deterioration during storage

Abstract

Eggplant (Solatium melongena L.) fruits deteriorate rapidly during prolonged storage, mainly due to accelerated senescence of the calyx. Dipping the calyx in a solution containing 200 ppm NAA and 900 ppm prochloraz (active ingredient) retarded calyx senescence and controlled decay. At the end of the growing season in Israel (March-May), dipping the whole fruit in the above solution gave better results than dipping the calyx only. After 14 d of storage at 12°C and 3 d at 20°C, the calyx appeared fresh and green and the fruit was firm. Decay incidence did not exceed 5%. The residual level of prochloraz in fruits that were wholly dipped was less than 0.34 mg 1“'.