Panigrahi J, Patel M, Patel N, Gheewala B, Gantait S.

3 Biotech. 2018 Jun;8(6):280. doi: 10.1007/s13205-018-1284-1. Epub 2018 Jun 1.

Abstract

This study, for the first time, evaluates the efficiency of castor oil when used as an external coating on Capsicum annuum L., to increase postharvest storage-life at 4 ± 1 °C. The castor oil-coated fruits were successfully stored for 36 days, while the non-coated fruits could only sustain for 18 days. Throughout the storage period (at 9-day intervals), different antioxidants and biochemical assays (allied with storage) such as titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content, ferrous ion chelating activity, reducing power, DPPH scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, total phenolic content, total sugar estimation, and enzymatic study of polyphenol oxidase and pectate lyase, were assessed. During storage, the castor oil-coated fruits showed a substantial decrease in titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content, total phenolic content, including antioxidant activities such as reducing power and DPPH activity; however, an increase in ferrous ion chelating activity, total soluble sugar content, polyphenol oxidase activity and initial pectate lyase activity was observed, in contrast to that of the non-coated fruits. The application of castor oil proved to be effective in delaying the ripening process of fruits during storage.

See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29881658

Figure 1: Influence of castor oil coating on titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content, total phenolic content, total soluble sugar content, DPPH radical scavenging activity and ferrous ion chelating activity in Capsicum annuum L. during cold storage. Mean columns with different letters are significant at P < 0.05 based on one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey test. *Represents unavailability of information due to postharvest deterioration of fruits