Effect of Postharvest Hot Air Treatments on Ripening and Soluble Sugars in Banana Fruits, Musa Spp. ‘Williams’
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Date
2012Author
Ambuko, J. L.
Sugaya, S.
Sekozawa, Y.
Gemma, H.
Zanol, G.
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Postharvest hot air treatments have been traditionally used for disinfection and
disinfestations of fruits and vegetables. Recently, high temperature preconditioning
has been shown to have the potential to impart tolerance to chilling injury in some
commodities. In this study, banana fruits were exposed to two hot air treatments
(50°C for 10 min and 40°C for 60 min) and then stored for 3 weeks at chilling
temperatures (8°C). Thereafter, the fruits were evaluated for chilling injury symptoms
and ripening-related physicochemical changes during and after cold storage. Hot air
treatments significantly improved the fruits’ tolerance to chilling temperatures but at
the same time affected ripening-related changes in the fruits. Immediately after the
treatments, the treated fruits exhibited significantly higher respiration rates; approximately
30% higher that the untreated controls. Ethylene evolution was suppressed by
as much as five times relative to the untreated controls. However, during cold storage
and upon transfer from cold storage to ambient room conditions the treated fruits had
respiration rates comparable to the untreated fruits, while ethylene levels were higher
in the treated fruits. Cold storage significantly impaired the ripening process in both
the treated and untreated fruits. The cold-stored fruits failed to achieve a hue angle
low enough to give them the characteristic bright yellow color of optimally-ripened
bananas. Similarly, the treated fruits failed to soften sufficiently, thereby maintaining
higher pulp and peel firmness compared to the untreated controls at ambient room
conditions. These findings show that although hot air treatments are effective in
imparting chilling injury tolerance to banana fruits, time × temperature combinations
remain a challenge in ensuring optimum ripening and high fruit quality after cold
storage.
Publisher
Laboratory of Pomology Graduate School Life and Environ. Sciences Tsukuba University, Tsukuba Dept. Plant Science & Crop Protection University of Nairobi
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- Faculty of Agriculture [225]