Post Harvest Degreening, Storage and Quality of Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck.) as Influenced by Ethephon and Carbendazim

For degreening of sweet orange fruits post-harvest application of ethephon (2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid) was tried alone and in combination with carbendazim (fungicide) 0.05%. Ethephon 0.2% degreened the fruits in 3-5 days, while the untreated fruits remained green. There was no effect of ethephon on T.S.S., ascorbic acid, acidity and juice content. Higher rate of ethephon increased the storage rot as compared to lower rate. The storage rot was effectively controlled when ethephon was applied along with 0.05% carbendazim. Use of carbendazim with ethephon neither increased the efficacy for degreening nor, had adverse effect on the fruit quality.