Effects of postharvest heat and anoxic treatments on the manifestation of chilling injury in 'Berangan' banana

Abstract

Chilling injury is a serious disorder that can be observed in plant tissues, especially those of tropical and subtropical origin. One of the most susceptible produces to chilling injury is banana which resulted in the blackening of the peel from the exposure of susceptible banana tissues to temperature lower than l 5°C. However the critical temperature at which chilling injury symptoms are manifested varies among different cultivars and commodities. Chilling injury causes the release of metabolites , such as amino acids and sugar , and minerals from cells and together with the degradation of cell structure. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of different post harvest treatments to reduce the manifestation of chilling injury in 'Berangan' banana. The treatments involved were hot water treatment at 50°C, hot air treatments at 30°C and 50°C, anoxic treatment and bananas without any treatment were served as control. The treated bananas were stored at 13°C; RH 90% for 3 weeks followed by storage at ambient (25±1 °C) for another one week. The physico-chemical analyses and the manifestation of chilling injury were observed at weekly intervals. The total color change of the pulp and peel, chilling injury scores, and TBA values were increasing over the storage time. Peel to pulp weight ratio and firmness were decreasing over the storage time. However among all the treatments, the best treatment for extending shelf life and reducing the manifestation of chilling injury in 'Berangan' banana was observed to be the anoxic treatment followed by hot water treatment at 50°C, hot air treatments at 50°C, control and lastly hot air treatments at 300C.