Effect of calcium chloride treatments on quality characteristics of loquat fruit during storage

In order to study the effectiveness of calcium chloride treatments on postharvest quality and storage behavior of surkh cultivar of loquat,fruit was dipped in three concentrations (1%,2% and 3%) of calcium chloride for two minutes and stored in soft board cartons at 4 °c in a cold store for 10 weeks period. the fruit was harvested at mature ripe stage,clipped,sorted and washed before applying the treatments. changes in weight loss,firmness,total soluble solids (tss),browning index (bi),ascorbic acid,titratable acidity (ta) and relative electrical conductivity (rec) were studied. one percent cacl 2 did not affect quality parameters of the fruit compared to control treatment,whereas,2% and 3% cacl 2 retained maximum firmness,tss,ascorbic acid content reduced browning index (bi),relative electrical conductivity (rec) and weight loss up to 4-5 weeks.