Effect of Growing Altitude and Post-Harvest Treatments with Gibberellic Acid on Quality and Shelf Life of Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck.)

Baniya, Ganesh; Dhital, Madhav; Shrestha, Arjun Kumar; Shrestha, Aashish; Pandey, Srijana

doi:10.22059/ijhst.2025.374098.804

Effect of Growing Altitude and Post-Harvest Treatments with Gibberellic Acid on Quality and Shelf Life of Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck.)

Document Type : Research paper

Authors

¹ Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal

² Agriculture and Forestry University

³ Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

10.22059/ijhst.2025.374098.804

Abstract

An experiment was conducted from November 2021 to January 2022 at the horticulture laboratory of Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. The experiment was laid out as a factorial based on a Completely Randomized Design with 12 treatments (three levels of altitude and four post-harvest treatments) and three replications. Fruits were harvested from altitudes of 970, 1100, and 1230 meters above sea level. The post-harvest treatments were GA3 (150 ppm, 100 ppm, 50 ppm), and control (distilled water). Notably, at 30 DAS, fruits from the 970 masl elevation showcased impressive results: the lowest post-harvest loss (PLW) at just 9.33%, an abundant juice content of 42.71%, and a high ascorbic acid level of 31.12 mg 100 g-1. In contrast, fruits from 1230 masl elevation had higher firmness (4.95 kg cm-2), titratable acidity (1.16 %), and extended shelf life (29.75 days) with lower TSS (10.58 0Brix) and TSS/TA ratio. Among the GA3 treatments, GA3 @ 150 ppm was most effective in minimizing PLW (9.37%), TSS (10.20 0Brix), and juice pH (3.38) while enhancing juice content, ascorbic acid (32.07 mg 100 g-1), higher firmness (5.19 kg cm-2), and prolonging shelf life (34 days). This study recommends using GA3 in 150 ppm sweet oranges harvested from higher altitudes to optimize post-harvest quality.

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