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Effect of Combination Hot Water Treatment and Chitosan Coating on
Postharvest Disease Development on Sweet Potato (Ipomea batatas sp.)
Nurul Hashimah Binti Mohd Ramli
Supervisor: Dr. Suhaizan Binti Lob
Bachelor of Science Agrotechnology (Postharvest Technology)
School of Food Science and Technology
The development of postharvest disease of sweet potato during storage is one of the
major problem in Malaysia. This study was designed to investigate the effect of
combination of two common postharvest treatment, chitosan coating (1% and 2%)
and hot water treatment (50°C and 55°C for 10 minutes) on postharvest disease
development on sweet potato. Several fungal species found to cause postharvest
disease but pathogenicity test showed that Aspergillus niger was the most pathogenic
and was selected for in vivo study. The treated sweet potatoes were inoculated with
the mycelium plug and incubated at room temperature for 18 days. Assessment of
disease development and postharvest quality were conducted every 3 days.
Combination of postharvest treatments did not showed any significant effect on sweet
potato. However, this study has demonstrated the potential of 2% chitosan coating in
reducing the postharvest disease development without affecting other postharvest
quality of sweet potato.
1068 | UMT UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DAY 2018