Differential Effects of Abscisic Acid and Fluridone on Postharvest Quality Parameters of Detached Capsicum (Capsicum Annuum L.) Fruits

Abstract

Capsicum is highly prized vegetable world over due to its varied colour, rich nutritional value and overall consumer preference. Storage life of capsicum is very short (3-4 days) at ambient condition due to heavy loss of moisture (shrivelling) and bioactive compound. The aim of this study was shelf life extending and higher retention of bioactive compound during ambient storage. The capsicum variety Inspiration was harvested at commercial maturity stage and subjected to dipping treatment of abscisic acid (ABA) @ 300 µ mol L^-1 and fluridone @100 µ mol L^-1 for 3 min. ABA treatment has shown an increasing trend of ascorbic acid and carotenoid content during entire period of 8 days storage with a slight higher moisture loss compared to control and fluridone treated fruits. While exogenous application of fluridone (ABA antagonist) has shown to reduce various quality parameters like TSS, acidity and PLW. This finding suggests that abscisic acid can be gainfully utilised as a safe chemical elicitor for enhancing health promoting component during ripening and storage of capsicum. </span>