Effect of post harvest application of different packaging materials and storage intervals on shelf life of pear cv. Punjab beauty

The present investigation was carried out in the laboratory of Department of Horticulture Khalsa College, Amritsar during the year 2015-16. The fruits of semi-soft pear(Pyrus communis) cv. Punjab Beauty were harvested from the healthy trees at physiologically mature stage in the last week of July from a well maintained Govt. Orchard and Nursery, Attari Distt, Amritsar and were packed in CFB and wooden boxes and kept under cold storage at 0° to 3.3°C and 90% relative humidity. The fruits from each treatment were analysed for physico-chemical characteristics after 0, 20, 40 and 60 days of cold storage period. The results revealed that the fruits packed in CFB boxes reduced the PLW, spoilage loss and increased firmness upto 60 days of storage with maximum edible quality.TSS and sugars were maximum in fruits packed in wooden boxes.