PENGARUH JENIS PEMBUNGKUSAN DAN UKURAN BUAH UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KUALITAS BUAH BELIMBING (Averrhoa carambola L.)

Star fruit (Averrhoa carambola L.) fruit plants originating from tropical countries that have the shape of a fruit like a star. Generally, these plants are planted in the home garden as shade plants. Star fruit is a perishable food commodity. Changes throughout the cooking or aging process can increase commodity vulnerability to mechanical damage and disease. Problems that are often faced by fruit farmers are fruit fly pests and the number of fruits that fall out. Fruit damage that occurs during the pre-harvest period can be caused by attacks of pests and diseases, loss of fruit caused by high ambient temperatures and exposure to sunlight that makes the appearance of the fruit look burning. One of the most frequently used methods by farmers is fruit wrapping. According to Nasir et al., 1991 the packaging treatment turned out to also be able to increase production. fruit wrapped on average is heavier than fruit that is not wrapped as reported, other than that in terms of fruit appearance looks attractive. Attractive appearance is caused by the physical condition of the fruit that looks dense and the absence of black patches on the fruit skin due to pest attacks. (Rusdianto, 1995) This study used factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) which was repeated 3 times. This study uses 3 types of wrappers and 1 control, P0 = no wrapping (control), P1 = transparent plastic wrap, P2 = wrapping white paper, P3 = wrapping white cloth, cool for fruit size using 3 kinds of sizes, D1 = fruit size 2 -3 cm, D2 = fruit size 4-5 cm, D 3 = 6-7 cm fruit size for 10 weeks. Results of the study showed that the packaging and size of fruit can increase the diameter of star fruit, the hardness of fruit, the level of vitamin C, the level of brightness (L), the level of redness (a +), the level of yellow (b +) the base of the fruit, redness (a +), yellowish level (b +) the middle part of the fruit, redness (a +) at the end of the fruit. The best fruit wrappers to improve and maintain the quality of the fruit are wrapping white paper with a fruit size of 6-7 cm