Effect of Post-harvest Treatments of Polyamines on Colour of Stored Peach Fruits

Peach fruit is highly perishable and climacteric in nature. It undergoes various physiological and biochemical changes during fruit ripening and these changes are continuous to occur after harvesting that leads to poor post-harvest fruit quality. An experiment was planned to study the effect of polyamines on the colour changes of peach fruit during low temperature storage. Physiologically mature, uniform and healthy fruits were harvested and treated for 5-minutes in aqueous solutions of spermidine, spermine and putrescine at three different concentrations viz., 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 mmol L-1, respectively and 2.0 kg fruit from each replication of each treatment was packed in corrugated fibre board (CFB) boxes (5% perforation) with paper lining and kept at low temperature conditions (0 -1° C and 90-95% RH) for 32-days. Fruit samples were analysed after 8, 16, 24 and 32 days of storage for various physico-chemical characterstatics. Result revealed that the application of polyamines delayed the loss of green colour in peach fruits. Fruits treated with putrescine @ 3 mmol L-1 showed minimum "a" and "b" values, followed by putrescine @ 2 mmol L-1 treatment, while the maximum "a" and "b" values were recorded in untreated fruits.