EFFECT OF PLASTIC PACKAGING AND STORAGE ENVIRONMENT ON SHELF LIFE AND QUALITY OF SOME PEACH (Prunus persica L.) GENOTYPES AT HOLETA, CENTRAL ETHIOPIA

Peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) is among the most important stone fruits which is widely grown in temperate regions. There is a growing interest in the production of peach, especially in the highland areas of Ethiopia where the crop is well adapted. However, marketing of peach fruits like other fresh produce in Ethiopia is complicated by high postharvest losses. Although peach varieties have been introduced and studied for their productivity, their postharvest quality has not been evaluated. Besides, efforts done to evaluate the influence of postharvest handling practices in maintaining fruit quality and shelf life are limited. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to assess the effect of packaging and storage environment on postharvest quality and shelf life of peach genotypes. The treatments included 4x3x2 factorial combinations of variety, packaging material and storage environment and carried out in a CRD design replicated three times. The experiment was carried out at holeta agricultural research center from January to February, 2018. Peach genotypes ‘Bonnigold, Early Grande, 90-19H and Topic Beauty’ packed in perforated and non-perforated low density polyethylene (LDPE) film and stored under two different conditions i.e. ambient (6.4–20.2 °C; 40–71 % RH) and cold storage (-1 – 1 °C; 85–99 % RH) at Holeta Agricultural Research Center, Central Ethiopia. Genotypes had different response to packaging materials and storage environment. Perforated bag packaging with cold storage was found to be more effective compared to non-perforated and the control fruits in maintaining firmness. Non-perforated bag packagings combined with cold storage extended shelf life of peach fruits 10 – 20 days compared to other treatment combinations. The non-perforated plastic packaged fruits stored in the cold storage also maintained more TSS, AA, TA, TSS/TA, pH, marketability and specific gravity content and lowered weight loss and decay. Therefore, non-perforated plastic packaging with cold storage environment can be considered to maintain the quality as well as extending the shelf life of peaches.