Abstract:
Orange fruits have a relatively high post-harvest loss because of their inherent biological
behavior and postharvest handling practices. High loss of orange in Ethiopia is partly
associated with poor postharvest handling techniques. The experiment was carried out to
assess the effects of coating materials and plant extracts on the shelf life and quality
maintenance of orange fruit. Freshly harvested fruits of mature Valentia orange variety were
dipped in different plant extracts and natural coating substances. The experiment was set in a
completely randomized design with factorial preparation in three replications. The treatments
consisted of a 5x3 factorial combination of plant extracts (Eucalyptus 25%, Lantana 25%,
Rosemary 10%, Neem 20% and control) and coating treatments (bees wax 12%, Aloe
debrana gel 100% and control). The experiment was conducted at Haramaya University
during 2023 for 40-days, stored at room temperature. Different physico-chemical parameters
and shelf life of fruit were assessed at interval of 5 days until 40th day. The result revealed that
combination of neem leaf extract and beeswax coating proved to be the most effective in
increasing shelf-life, lowering TSS/TA and weight loss, improve marketability, juice content,
TA and AA. Slow increases of pH and weight loss were also observed on fruits treated with
beeswax. The beeswax coating had significant effect than Aloe debrana gel on most of the
parameters studied. Generally, coating of fruit with beeswax in combination with dipping in
neem plant extract maintained high marketability acceptance and extended shelf life.
Therefore, coating of fruits of Valentia orange variety with combination of neem leaf extract
and beeswax and beeswax alone could have benefits to be used as alternative for management
of postharvest loss of fruits under ambient storage condition of Haramaya and similar
environments.
