Effect of Different Wrapping Materials on Shelf-life of Papaya (Carica papaya L.) cv. Red Lady

The current study conducted during the year 2023 at Fruit Science Lab in Pt. K.L.S. College of Horticulture and Research Station, Rajnandgaon, (C.G.). The experiment of completely randomized design and replicated thrice with a total of 07 treatments where (T1) newspaper, (T2) tissue straw, (T3) paddy straw, (T4) foam net, (T5) polythene, (T6) CFB (corrugated fiber board box) and (T7) control. T5 polythene exhibited better performance in relation to most of the parameters like Physiological loss in weight (%) (2.73, 5.98, 8.84 and 10.41), Percentage of ripening (%) (25.74, 33.51, 47.73 and 57.37), Ascorbic acid (%) (34.16, 53.51, 67.55 and 56.12), TSS (0B) (7.53, 12.54, 16.6 and 13.43), fruit length (cm) (22.23, 21.73, 21.30 and 20.29), total sugar (%) (5.85, 9.95, 11.42 and 10.24), reducing sugar (%) (4.40, 6.83, 9.68 and 7.65), acidity (%) (0.18, 0.12, 0.11 and 0.06) at 3, 6, 9 and 12 days respectively. Based on outcomes of present studies, it can be concluded that the papaya fruits wrapped in polythene exhibited superiority with respect to shelf life and quality of papaya. Hence the treatment T5 (polythene) may be recommended for wrapping materials for improvement of quality parameters of papaya cv. red lady.