Kajian pengaruh jenis kemasan polietilen dan polipropilen terhadap umur simpan buah Belimbing manis (Averrhoa carambola L.)

Abstract

Star fruit is a fruit that spread out in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. The shelf life of star fruit after postharvest are very short, so it is necessary to maintain the treatment method of star fruit quality to extend the shelf life of the fruit. One way to extend the star fruit shelf life is by package the fruit by choosing the right type of plastic. The type plastics that used in these experiments are low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, and polypropylene. To find the right type of packaging in maintaining the quality of star fruit take several tests and storage at different temperatures in order to know the physical and chemical changes of the star fruit. Star fruit that has been packaged are stored in different temperatures (5 ° C, 10 °C, room temperature). The test that have been conducted is to determine the best packaging of respiration and the permeability test of plastic packaging color, hardness, soluble solids content, weights loss, and organoleptic. The results of several trials of star fruit during storage at 5 °C, 10 °C, and room temperature refers to the polypropylene plastic packaging that can maintain the quality of star fruit with a longer storage at optimum temperature of 10 °C.