The Effect of Ozone on the Shelf Life and Some Quality Properties of Belly Pepper

The useful shelf life of belly pepper fruit is very short by the loss of visual and tissue quality as well as contamination with microorganisms. The most common microorganisms are effective in the spoilage of pepper are Botrytis, Alternaria and soft fungi and bacterial rottenness. These problems reduce exports and increase waste during post-harvest and transportation phases. At present, a set of chemicals is used to maintain the freshness and quality of crops that can have adverse effects on the consumer. Therefore, in order to reduce post-harvest lesions of belly pepper, in the present study, the effect of ozone gas treatment on storage and some quantitative and qualitative characteristics of pepper as a factorial experiment and in a completely randomized design during 40 days of storage in a warehouse with a temperature of 8 degrees Celsius was studied. The results showed that ozone treated pepper fruits at a concentration of 1 ppm compared to untreated and treated fruits at a concentration of 5 ppm, had lower weight loss, soluble solids and surface mold-yeast rot and higher hardness. In general, it can be concluded that continuous ozone treatment at 1ppm concentration increases shelf life and preserves the quality of sweet pepper fruits.