Post Harvest Physiology Standardization of Recipes and Drying Methods for Preparing Various Products of Custard Apple Annona squamosa L

Abstract

newlineA laboratory experiment entitled, Post Harvest Physiology, Standardization of Recipes and Drying Methods for Preparing Various Products of Custard Apple (Annona squamosa L.) was conducted from December 2018 April 2020 at Post Harvest Technology Laboratory, Department of Horticulture, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur. The experiment was laid out in the completely randomized design. The entire research work was comprised of four experiments. newlineIn the first experiment, custard apple fruits were stored at room temperature to analyse post harvest physiology of stored fruits. The physicochemical properties of fruits such as fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter and acidity decreased whereas the physiological loss in weight, moisture content, colour coordinates, TSS, pH, total sugar, reducing sugar, non-reducing sugar and ascorbic acid content increased with the advancement of the storage period. During the storage, custard apple fruits sharply released ethylene and exhibited an increase in evolution on the 2nd day of the storage and reached the maximum on the 4th day of the storage, coinciding with the respiration peak. The respiration rate of custard apple fruits had a clear climacteric peak on 4th day of the storage. After attaining a climacteric peak, the respiration rate dropped down as the storage progressed. newlineThe second experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with five replication to standardize the recipes of custard apple squash, crush, leather and ice cream and analysed for characteristics like TSS, acidity, pH, total sugars, reducing sugar, non-reducing sugar, ascorbic acid, the appearance, texture, taste and overall acceptability, total plate count and yeast/mold count. newlineThe third experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with four replication to standardize the drying techniques to develop custard apple powder by using oven drying, spray drying, freeze drying and foam mat drying. Drying