Avocado Research Paper

Avocado (Persea americana) is a dicotyledonous horticultural tree that belongs to the Lauraceae family. The avocado originated in Mexico and Guatemala. The tree can grow in different altitudes (Parada, et al., 2004) and varies climates ranging from tropical to subtropical (Ramcharan, et al., 1983). It can be classified as a subtropical tree (Parada, et al., 2004) or be classified as an evergreen tropical tree (Nesbitt, et al., 2008). Avocado is a very perishable fruits and has biological processes that are characterized by high respiration rate and high ethylene production. This reduces the postharvest life and quality of the avocados. The avocado is a subtropical fruit and like most subtropical fruits it cannot tolerate low temperatures thus it is susceptible to chilling injury.

The leaves were freeze dried. The moringa leaves were weighed and 1 L of Alcohol (methanol 80%) was added to the freeze dried leaves. This solution was diluted by adding 10 L of water. The fruits were soaked or dipped in the treatments namely salicylic acid (2 mM), methyl jasmonate (10 µM) and moringa extract for 30 seconds. Salicylic acid was weighed to 2.7 g and dissolved in 10 L of water. Methyl jasmonate was weighed to 20 µL and dissolved in 10 L of water. The fruits were divided and each treatment had 36 fruits. The treatments were replicated 3 times and a single replication contained 12 fruits. A randomized complete block design was used and the data was analyzed using Genstat. After treatment the fruits were stored in the cold storage for 28 days (exporting time). Exporting conditions were imitated, because the fruits were stored at a temperature of 5.5°C. Followed by placing the fruits at room temperature for seven days. Every seven days quality attribute such as fruit mass, firmness. Sugars (Mannoheptulose and Perseito), electrical coductivity and carbon dioxide production were