Abstract:
Banana (Musa acuminata) is a perishable fruit subjected to anthracnose, crown rot and
blossom end rot at the postharvest stage. The present study focused on developing a
method to control postharvest diseases of banana by dipping the banana in the lab grade
sodium hypochlorite solution. Under ambient temperature and dipping in sodium
hypochlorite solution for ten minutes were tested for their ability to control diseases and
their influence on postharvest quality parameters such as ripening index, microbial
analysis, soluble solid concentration and pH value. Dipping the bananas for ten minutes
in these concentrations (1 %, 3% and 5%) of sodium hypochlorite solution reduced the
incidence of banana fruit rot ( compared with the untreated fruits) 18 days after harvest.
High concentration of sodium hypochlorite solution used may produce phytotoxic effects
on the banana itself even though it is completely inhibited the fungal growth. This
consumption may cause health problem to human. Therefore, Tl is chosen to be the most
effective treatment to control banana postharvest pathogen diseases besides being safe for
human consumption.
