Impact of hermetic packaging on green gram (Vigna radiata) insect and microbial damage under environmental storage condition

Green gram (Vigna radiata) is an important income generation crop for millions of farmers and processing units in India. In most developing countries, the post-harvest losses associated with this crop remain a major concern. This case investigates the impact of hermetic and non-hermetic packaging material on the green gram in tropical ambient storage. The green gram was held for 180 days in hermetic bags, plastic containers, and jute bags. Calculated parameters were the amount of moisture, the infestation of insects, the weight of 1,000 seeds, and the microbial load. In hermetic bags, the moisture content decreased a little, from 13.37 to 12.60% compared to the sharp decline in the non-hermetic plastic containers and jute bags of 13.70 to 11.90% and 13.70 to 8.30%, respectively. The insect population drastically reduced in the hermetic bags 30 days onwards and reached to zero by 60 days of storage. In this study, non-hermetic plastic containers and jute bags, the population of live insects increased 30 days onwards. The weight of 1000 grains in jute bags decreased significantly from 64.50 g to 56.11 g, while the hermetically stored kernels decreased to just 63.75 g. In non-hermetic plastic containers were significantly superior over other treatments with the least bacterial count (1.55 x 106cfu/gm) followed by hermetic bags (1.65x 106 CFU/gm) and jute bags. Based on our findings, the hermetic bag is better packaging material as far as spoilage due to insects and fungi is concerned that is followed by a plastic container and jute bag. At the same time, the jute bag was having the highest bacterial load followed by a hermetic bag and plastic container. It was thus concluded that hermetic storage could be a better way than non-hermetic storage to store green gram.