Effects of Hexanal Dip on the Post-harvest Shelf Life and Quality of Papaya (Carica Papaya L.) Fruit
Date
2018Author
Hutchinson, MJ
Ouko, JR
Ambuko, J
Owino, WO
Subramanian, J
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of hexanal on the post-harvest shelf life and quality
of papaya (Carica papaya L.) in two agro-ecological zones (AEZs II and IV) among small-holder farmers in
Kenya. Hexanal was tested at two concentrations, 1% and 2%, and applied as a dip for 2.5 minutes or 5
minutes on mature green Solo Sunrise and Mountain papaya cultivars. Water was used as control. The
experiment was done in a randomized complete block design with three replications; means were
compared by Analysis of Variance using GenStat Version 15. Untreated papaya fruits lasted for 9 days
whereas papaya fruits dipped in 2% hexanal for 5 minutes lasted for 15 days with ethylene and respiratory
peaks delayed by three days (p < 0.05). These hexanal-dipped fruits lost up to 19% of their cumulative
physiological weight (p < 0.05) after the entire storage period of 15 days, whereas controls lost up to 35%
of their physiological weight over the same period, and were firmer in texture by 37.4% (p < 0.05).
Titratable acidity in papaya fruits gradually decreased with time during the ripening period with no
significant difference between the treated and the untreated fruits (p < 0.05). The results of this study
indicate that the use of hexanal could be a novel and viable option for reducing post-harvest losses of
papaya (Carica papaya L.) in Africa, benefitting small-scale farmers as well as large-scale farmers and
traders through improved post-harvest maintenance of quality and longer shelf life.
URI
https://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/jane_ambuko/publications/effects-hexanal-dip-post-harvest-shelf-life-and-quality-papaya-carica-papayhttp://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/153423
Citation
Hutchinson MJ, Ouko JR, Ambuko J, Owino WO, Subramanian J. "Effects of hexanal dip on the post-harvest shelf life and quality of papaya (Carica papaya L.) fruit." Tropical Agriculture . 2018;95(1):43-70.Publisher
University of Nairobi
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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