Effect of packaging conditions on quality and shelf-life of fresh pointed gourd (Trichosanthes dioica Roxb.) during storage

• Influence of packaging conditions and storage environment was studied for maintaining quality and freshness of pointed gourd.
• Shrink and vacuum packaging could not yield better result under ambient storage because of high water vapour transmission rate of the film and consequently loss of turgidity of the vegetables.
• Physico-chemical parameters of fresh pointed gourd changed drastically under ambient storage.
• Modified atmospheric packaging (MAP) with polypropylene (PP) film in refrigerated condition improves shelf-life up to 16 days.

Effect of packaging conditions on shelf-life quality of pointed gourd were studied during ambient (23–35 °C, 45–75% RH) and refrigerated (4–6 °C, 45% RH) storage. Six different packaging types i.e. modified atmospheric packaging (MAP) with low density polyethylene (LDPE) film, MAP with polypropylene (PP) film, MAP in LDPE-film with pin holes, MAP in PP-film with pin holes, shrink packaging with bi-axially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film and vacuum packaging with PP-film techniques were used for experiment. Changes in headspace gas composition, physiological loss in weight (PLW), ascorbic acid, texture, colour and subjective quality of pointed gourd were evaluated periodically during storage. The in-pack modified gaseous composition created a suitable headspace with low O2 and high CO2, which resulted in better retention of freshness and marketability of the vegetables in different packaging conditions. Shrink and vacuum packaging could not yield desired result under ambient storage because of high water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) of film and loss of turgidity. PLW of 5.56(±1.52) % was the highest in pointed gourd samples stored in ambient condition upto 4th day of storage, whereas the least (0.34%) in pointed gourd packed with PP-film under refrigerated condition. MAP with PP-film in refrigerated condition was found significantly improved shelf-life of pointed gourd up to 16 days. Ambient conditions could extend shelf-life of pointed gourd up to 4 days using LDPE-film with pin holes. The outcome of the study will have great potential and recommended for fresh fruit and vegetable industry.