INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT PACKAGING MATERIALS ON THE SHELF LIFE OF SAPOTA (ACHARUS ZAPOTA L.)

Sapota (Acharus zapota L.) is a tropical crop, contains 15-20% digestible sugar and an adequate amount of protein, fat, fiber, and minerals Ca, P, and Fe.It is tasty and often served as a dessert fruit, its pulp is sweeter and melting.Sapota fruits are extremely perishable and are typically packaged in gunny bags for storage.In this context, an experiment was conducted in Department of Horticulture, School of Agriculture, ITM University, Gwalior, where different types of packaging materials like Aluminum foil, Nylon bag, Cling film, Brown paper, Tissue paper, HDPE, Banana Leaf, CFB, Rice husk and Paddy Straw were used for packaging of sapota fruit to access the effect of packaging material on quality, shelf life and storability of sapota fruit including control.Results showed that packaging of fruits with the Aluminum foil was found overall best for sapota fruit quality and extension of shelf life during storage.However, HDPE and cling film were also found to be beneficial next to aluminum foil for better physical, physiological and quality related traits of sapota fruits when stored up-to 6 days of storage.