International Journal of Processing and Post harvest Technology

S. Pun ¹, M. Neog ², Bidyut C. Deka ¹, A. Saikia ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat (Assam), IN
2 ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Region, Nagaland, IN

Abstract

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) is one of the important high value crop, cultivated widely in the North Eastern Region of India. Of the total ginger production, around 93.4 per cent becomes a marketable surplus. This huge amount of marketable surplus is sold by the farmers at a very low price. The ginger producers of the region have not been benefited to the desired extent due to absence of proper processing units and storage facility locally. The traditional ginger drying methods used by the farmers are varied, haphazard and risky, resulting in mould growth and destruction of some heat sensitive pungent properties. Considering the huge production, potentiality, market demand and its agro-climatic suitability in the region, an experiment on post harvest treatments on shelf-life and quality of dehydrated ginger var. 'Bhola' was conducted in the Quality Control and PHT Laboratory of Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat. The freshly harvested ginger rhizomes were washed, peeled and cut into small shreds. The ginger shreds were pretreated with different combinations of salt solutions viz., 4 per cent,6 per cent, 8 per cent and 10 per cent, citric acid viz., 1 per cent, 2 per cent, 3 per cent and 4 per cent and ascorbic acid 2 per cent in general. The treated samples were dried in oven for 7 hours at 60^oC and stored in plastic containers at ambient conditions. The dehydrated ginger shreds treated with 10 per cent salt solution + 4 per cent citric acid + 2 per cent ascorbic acid recorded the highest crude protein (5.73%), oleoresin (4.31%), total soluble carbohydrate (12.89%) and overall sensory score (7.93%) without microbial growth till 180 days of storage. The dehydrated ginger shreds could be safely stored upto 180 days.

Keywords

Post Harvest Treatments, Dehydrated Ginger.

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S. Dutta ¹, M. Neog ², A. Saikia ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat (Assam), IN
2 Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat (Assam), IN

Abstract

Cowa (Garcinia cowa Roxb.) locally known as Kujithekera belongs to the family Clusiaceae is one of the popular indigenous fruits of north eastern region of India. The fruit is having commercial and medicinal values. It is the source for a natural diet ingredient hydroxycitric acid (HCA) which is an anti obesity compound. Kujithekera fruits are highly perishable in nature having short shelf-life which reduces the commercial values of the fruit. Extension of shelf-life using 5 different treatments was studied. The treated fruits were packed in transparent perforated (0.2% ventilation) low density polyethylene bags (25μ). The physico-chemical qualities of the treated fruits were found to decrease significantly with the advancement of storage period. Fruits dipped in 1 per cent wax emulsion for 5 min, air dried and packed in transparent perforated (0.2% ventilation) LDPE bags (25μ) retained the highest ascorbic acid (7.95 mg and 5.27 mg/100g), total sugar (6.3% and 3.72%), total phenol (1.2g and 1.96g/100g), hydroxycitric acid (6.20g and 6.67g/100g), energy value (39.95Kcal and 27.37Kcal/ 100g) both in pulp and peel, respectively on 6 days after storage. The wax coated fruits remained firmer (1.66 kg/cm2) and recorded the highest CIE lab parameters like L*, a*, b* and C* (45.73, 24.61, 13.02 and 27.84, respectively) with an extended shelf-life of 6 days at ambient conditions (29.8±1.1°C, RH 79.6±3%).

Keywords

Kujithekera, Garcinia cowa Roxb, Hydroxycitric Acid, LDPE Bags, Shelf Life.

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