Postharvest treatment of pyroligneous acid on solanaceous crops at different storage condition

Abstract

Pyroligneous acid or wood vinegar is a liquid produced through natural carbonization of plant refuse and has been reported to improve harvest quality of vegetables. This study makes use of pyroligneous acid derived from bamboo refuse and applied as postharvest treatment on fruits of two solanaceous crops namely hot pepper and eggplant prior to storage.  A 2 × 3 factorial experiment was laid out in two (2) sets of experiments in Completely Randomized Design with six treatment combinations and thirty replicates. Hot pepper (var. Chain Fair) and Eggplant (var. Fortuner) fruit samples were dipped for 1 min at different concentration of pyroligneous acid with control (no application), 20% v/v and 30% v/v and were stored at ambient (25-30°C) and refrigerated (8-10°C) conditions for a week. Fruits of both crops reached its limit of marketability at visual quality rating index of three in the 4^th day of storage. Morphological characteristics particularly visual quality, firmness, shelf life and degree of shriveling was maintained better when stored under refrigerated condition. Fruit decay incidence regardless of storage condition was reduced especially with higher concentration of pyroligneous acid treatment. However, there were no marked variations of pyroligneous treatment on physico-chemical characteristics, color change, water content and dry matter content of hot pepper. The application of pyroligneous acid at 30% v/v retained better total soluble solid content of eggplant irrespective with storage conditions. Nonetheless, refrigeration delayed color changes, % cumulative weightloss, pH, fruit size, degree of shriveling and firmness.