Extending storage life of king coconut, Cocos nucifera var. auranta

This study was conducted to facilitate low temperature storage and distribution of fresh king coconut, Cocos nucifera var. auranta, for periods up to 28 days. Problems addressed included incidence of disease, perianth drop, discolouration of coconut water, chilling injury and prevention of moisture loss during refrigerated storage. Trials were conducted using leaf count and tagging procedures to determine maturity indices. A comparison of organoleptic and physico-chemical parameters indicated that nuts harvested at 7 and 8 months after flowering were at the optimum stage of maturity for extending storage life for up to 28 days at 13.5 degrees C. Four wax formulations developed at the Industrial Technology Institute - W1, W2, W3, and W4 - were then tested on nuts harvested at the 7 to 8 stage of maturity. Treated nuts were stored at ambient (28 +/- 2 degrees C) and 13.5 degrees C. Nuts were observed to respond best to a dip treatment in wax formulation Wl, when stored at 13.5 degrees C for 28 days. Nuts stored at 28 +/- 2 degrees C, showed complete deterioration after 7 days. There was no significant difference in quality irrespective of the wax formulations tested.