Postharvest Quality and Physicochemical Analysis of Strawberry (Fragaria ananassa L.) to Various Application of Mulching and Organic Fertilizers

Background: In reducing postharvest losses, maintaining the quality of fruits can preserve nutrient content that earns higher prices in the market of fresh produce perishables. Strawberry as one of the economically important crops has led to increased production with high demand in many regions around the world. Maintaining the postharvest quality of this crop greatly influenced shelf-life and market demand, therefore, this study investigated the influence of various mulching methods and organic fertilizer particularly on the postharvest quality aspects and physicochemical analysis of strawberries. Methods: A study was conducted to determine the type of mulching methods (rice hull and plastic mulch) and organic fertilizers (vermicast, vermicompost and vermitea) used to enhance the postharvest quality of strawberries. Harvested fruits were carefully selected at commercial maturity stage and subjected to shelf-life evaluation and physicochemical analysis for 7 days of storage. It was carried out in a completely randomized design (CRD) with ten sample fruits per treatment replicated three times. Result: Among the data parameters evaluated, strawberry fruits harvested under plastic mulch condition applied with vermicompost, vermicast and vermitea significantly produced great results in terms of improving the postharvest quality parameters evaluated particularly on the general acceptability, visual quality rating, firmness and shriveling index. On the other hand, comparable results were also observed among the physicochemical analysis of harvested fruits from all the treatments particularly on the total soluble solids (TSS) and titratable acidity (TA). The results revealed that strawberries under plastic mulch applied with organic fertilizers (vermicompost, vermicast and vermitea) enhanced postharvest quality and increased shelf-life of harvested strawberry fruits.