Determination of the Shelf Life of Chili (Capsicum annuum L.) in Cold Store and Ambient Room Temperature Conditions Harvested at Different Maturity Stages

Kinley Wangmo, Pema Chophel & Thinley Wangdi

In Bhutan, different varieties of chili (Capsicum annuum L.) are grown in all the twenty Dzongkhags. Chili being a warm-season crop is produced in the summer but during the winter months, the plant growth is retarded due to low temperatures. During the chili season, there are huge supply in the market but a deficit during the winter months while the demand from the consumers is constant. Storing the last harvest of the summer chili production for the winter months in the cold store could be one possible way to make domestic chilies available during the winter months. This study was conducted to determine the storage shelf life of chili of different maturity stages in ambient room and cold store conditions at the National Post Harvest Sub-Center, Lingmethang.  The experiment design was a factorial arrangement with a complete randomized design with two treatments, ambient room temperature and cold storage conditions with five replications. Under each treatment, three maturity stages such as red, light, and dark green chilies were studied. Physiological weight loss, shrinkage, decay, and shelf life data were recorded at weekly intervals. The results indicate dark green chilies could be stored for eight weeks, light green chilies for six weeks, and red chilies for five weeks in the cold store at 8 to 10°C in 90-95% relative humidity. While in the ambient conditions, chilies could be stored for two weeks. Significant physiological weight losses (p<0.05) were observed across different chili maturity stages in the cold storage. The dark green maturity stage can be stored for the longest duration. Storing fresh green chilies from the last harvest of the local Bhutanese chili in the cold store could make chilies available during the winter months, when there is a scarcity of local Bhutanese chili in the market.

Click here to download: BJA Volume 8, Issue 1_Article 2