This study was aimed to assess the effects of calcium lactate (CL) on quality, shelf-life and storage physiology of bitter gourd. Fruits were dipped in the aqueous solution of CL (50, 75, and 100 mM) and stored at 10 °C and 85–95% relative humidity (RH). The changes in physical, biochemical and enzymological parameters were recorded at five days interval. The results showed that in CL@100 mM treated fruit, physiological loss in weight (PLW) and decay incidence were minimized. Conversely, their firmness, total phenolics, antioxidants and total chlorophyll retained at higher side. The CL @ 75 mM was able to retain higher ascorbic acid up to 20 days while CL@100 mM was effective in controlling pectin methylesterase (PME) activity and increasing the inhibitory activity of α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Therefore, our observations suggested that by applying CL@100 mM, 5 days extra (20 days) shelf-life of bitter gourd fruit can be achieved with notable retention of biochemical compounds over untreated fruit (15 days with poor retention of important nutrients).

本研究旨在评估乳酸钙（CL）对苦瓜品质、保质期和贮藏生理的影响。将水果浸入 CL（50、75 和 100 mM）的水溶液中，并在 10 °C 和 85-95% 相对湿度 (RH) 下储存。每隔五天记录一次物理、生化和酶学参数的变化。结果表明，在 CL@100 mM 处理的水果中，生理重量损失 (PLW) 和腐烂发生率最小化。相反，它们的硬度、总酚、抗氧化剂和总叶绿素保留在较高的一侧。CL@75 mM 能够将较高的抗坏血酸保留长达 20 天，而 CL@100 mM 可有效控制果胶甲酯酶 (PME) 活性并增加 α-淀粉酶和 α-葡萄糖苷酶的抑制活性。所以，