DEVELOPMENT OF ULTRAVIOLET-C IRRADIATION CHAMBER FOR SAPOTA 3576
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Date
2022-09
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JAU,JUNAGADH
Abstract
Sapota or Sapodilla belongs to the Sapotaceae family and is a tropical
evergreen plant. India is among the largest producer of sapota along with Mexico,
Venezuela and Guatemala. The total fruit production of India in 2019-20 was 813
lakh tonnes. The major problem with sapota storage is its quick ripening and faster
senescence of fruit. Fruit is also sensitive toward chilling injury.
Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation technology is an emerging non-chemical and non thermal technology which is establishing its demand slowly in the food industry.
From the food processing point of view, UV-C is of great importance because of its
germicidal effect. Ultraviolet-C radiation can increase the shelf life by decreasing the
microbial count and enhancing the defence system of fruits and vegetables. UV-C has
shown potential in delaying ripening and increasing the shelf life of various fruits and
vegetables. Therefore, UV-C provides an opportunity to increase the shelf life of
sapota. The ultraviolet-C irradiation chamber with varying intensity and proper
mechanism to uniformly treat all sides of sapota is not available in the market. Hence,
a UV-C irradiation chamber was developed and its effect on physical, biochemical
and microbial parameters was tested.