Weight loss % = (a - b/a) * 100
Where a and b represent initial and final weight respectively.
2.2 Overall Acceptability (OAA) -
Overall Acceptability of the fruit was judged by panel of 5 judges. The fruits were judged on the basis of color, texture and taste. For this, 4 point scale was used. 4= excellent, 3= good, 2=fair, 1=poor.
The samples were rated according to deep red colour, crisp texture and acceptable taste.
All the evaluation was carried out four times during study i.e. at day 0, 3, 6 and 9 days after storage at ambient temperature and 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after storage at refrigerated condition.
2.3 Total Sugars
Total sugars as invert sugars …show more content…
3.2 indicated that after 0 days of storage ( just after irradiation), there was no significant difference in overall acceptability of the strawberries under both the storage conditions. However as the storage period advanced, overall acceptability decreased under both the storage conditions but irradiated refrigerated samples were more acceptable even after longer storage period. After 3 days of ambient storage, overall acceptability of the strawberry samples though remained same for the unirradiated and low dose of 0.3kGy irradiation but it increased significantly after irradiation with 0.6, 0.9, 1.2 and 1.5kGy. In refrigerated condition, unirradiated and low dose irradiation did not effect much the overall acceptability up to 7 days but there was significant increase in overall acceptability for the samples irradiated with 1.2 and 1.5kGy. For samples under refrigerated storage, overall acceptability after 21 days, was significantly higher in 1.2 and 1.5kGy irradiated samples compared to all other treatments and this trend was observed even after 28 days of storage. Dose of 1.2kGy proved to be effective in maintaining the higher overall acceptability under both the storage conditions compared to other treatments. The decrease in overall acceptability is related to the decrease in texture, color and loss of volatiles as perceived by the panelists because of rapid senescence and fungal decay. The effect of irradiation on inhibition of fungal growth and delaying the senescence proved significantly beneficial in maintain higher overall acceptability of treated strawberries compared with unirradiated samples during storage under both the conditions (Hussain et