Effect of Postharvest Treatments on Biochemical and Bioactive Compounds of Custard Apple (Annona Squamosa L.) Cv. Balanagar

ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted to find out the effects of various postharvest treatments on the biochemical and bioactive compounds of custard apple cv. Balanagar fruits. In the present experiment, three chemicals viz. oxalic acid (OA) (2.5 mM, 5.0 mM, 7.5 mM, and 10 mM; salicylic acid (SA) (0.5 mM, 1.0 mM, 1.5 mM, and 2.0 mM) and Sodium Nitro Prusside (SNP) at 0.5 mM, 1.0 mM, 1.5 mM, and 2.0 mM along with control were applied. Fruits were stored at ambient condition (Temp. 25 ± 2°C and relative humidity (RH) 44 ± 2%). Results indicated that fruits treated with SNP (2.0 mM) had significantly (p≤ 0.05) higher total soluble solids (30.80°B), titratable acidity (TA) (0.33%) and retained higher total sugar content (TS) (25.09%) at the end of the 9th day of storage. At the end of storage, the least reduction in total phenol content (TPC) (492.52 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/100 g (11.62%) was found in SNP (2.0 mM) treated fruits. Likewise, SNP (2.0 mM) significantly (p≤ 0.05) retained higher ascorbic acid (AA) (43.20 mg/100 g), antioxidant activity (AOX) (0.92 µmol Trolox Equivalent (TE)/g), total flavonoids (TF) (71.49 µg CE/100 g) and tannin content (TC) (1.28 mg/g) compared to control during 9 days of storage. Thus, in the present investigation, SNP treatment was most suited to preserve the nutritional quality and bioactive compounds.