Nutritional Electric Parameter Associated with Physiochemical Changes in Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) Fruit

A comprehensive study was conducted to understand the biophysical and biochemical changes in bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) fruit under different storage conditions. We report for the first time these changes manifested as a varying Nutritional Electric Parameter (NEP), measured using a self-designed Digital Bimetallic Potentiometer (DBPM). A group of bottle gourds was monitored over a 9-day period under refrigerated (20°C) and ambient room temperature (27°C) regimes. The results indicate that the transportation of electric charges, found in the form of mineral clusters and chemical compositions such as vitamins and carbohydrates, vary significantly with thermal stress. Under ambient conditions, the fruit exhibited a more rapid decline in cellular integrity, while refrigerated samples showed higher stability in NEP values, suggesting that low-temperature storage effectively preserves the mobility of ionic clusters and the overall nutritional status of the fruit.