THE EFFECT OF ASPIRIN IN DELAYING POSTHARVEST RIPENING OF PAPAYA (Carica papaya L.) FRUIT

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) fruit is rich in vitamin A papain content has mild laxative property. However, it has very short shelf life faces huge postharvest losses. Salicylic acid is reported as a natural and safe phenolic compound which has been found to generate a wide range of metabolic and physiological responses in plants and act as potential bio agent in controlling post harvest loss of horticultural crops and delay in ripening through inhibition of ethylene biosynthesis or action. This study was planned to investigate the role of asprin (acetylsalicylic acid) treatment in improving post harvest quality, shelf life, sugar and antioxidant (as carotenoid) content of papaya fruit. The experiment was laid in completely randomized design (CRD) in two replications. Quantitative data were collected for weight loss, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) from0.47 to 0.90 total chlorophyll 0.01 to 0.05 and carotenoid content 0.01 to 0.24 are raised by using of ASA and reducing sugars 0.02 to 1.2 contents reduced from 0 day to 15 days. total titratable acidity1.2 to 3.8 are increased during treatments and The result indicated that there were significance differences between control and acetylsalicylic acid treated papaya fruit samples for all the studied parameters except for weight loss. Quantitative analysis of organoleptic properties of the fruit has shown that the overall increase in reducing sugars and carotenoid contents while chlorophyll, total acidity, vitamin C and weight loss decrease during post harvest ripening of papaya fruit. Further studies are required on the effect of storage conditions, cultivar differences and environments on fruit quality parameters.