Original Research ArticleGibberellic acid coating: A novel approach to expand the shelf-life in green chilli (Capsicum annuum L.)

•First study on GA3 as coating on postharvest shelf-life extension in chilli.•Fruits were treated with 1, 2 and 3 ppm of GA3 for 30 s and stored at 4 °C.•Stored fruits were examined for storage-associated multiple enzyme and antioxidants.•The GA3 showed beneficial effects in reducing the ripening process.•2 ppm of GA3 was superior than 1 ppm or 3 ppm and provided enhanced storage life.

In the present study, for the first time, we report the effectiveness of gibberellic acid (GA3) coating on the expansion of postharvest shelf-life in green chilli (Capsicum annum L.). The fruits were coated with GA3 dipping in 1, 2 and 3 ppm for 30 s and then stored at 4 ± 1 °C. Fruits without any GA3 coating were considered as control. All the treated and control fruits were stored as such for 45 days and throughout the storage period (with every nine days intervals) the multiple enzyme and antioxidants (associated with storage) such as titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content, ferrous ion chelating activity, reducing power, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, total phenolic content and enzymatic study of polyphenol oxidase and pectate lyase activity were assessed. The fruits coated with all three levels of GA3 showed a significant delay in change of skin colour, decline in titratable acidity, total phenolic and ascorbic acid content, increase in enzyme and antioxidant activities during the cold-storage in comparison to the control fruits. GA3, used as the coating in green chillis, eventually showed beneficial roles in decelerating the mechanism of ripening. The results further indicated that the 2 ppm of GA3 concentration served superiorly than the 1 ppm or 3 ppm throughout storage and provided expanded shelf-life of green chilli.

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