Abstract:
In order to improve the
quality and extend the shelf life of
bananas after gassing with ethylene at
commercial treatment during transportation
and storage the simultaneous application
of ethylene and 1-methylcyclopropene
were examined. Fruit were treated with
100 μL L-1 of ethylene for two
consecutive days as a control, followed by
20 min ventilation each day, or
simultaneously exposed to 1-MCP at
different concentrations (30, 100 or
300 nL L-1 on the first day or second day,
or treated with 1-MCP alone on the third
day at 22ºC. Fruit from each treatment
were used to evaluate external and
internal quality parameters and shelf life.
The results showed that shelf life
increased significantly, compared to the
control when 1-MCP was applied
coincidently with ethylene in the second
day and reapplied alone in the third day.
The highest increase in shelf life (125%)
was obtained when 1-MCP was applied
on the second day at 30 nL L-1
simultaneously with ethylene and at
300 nL L-1 alone on the third day,
compared to the control in both harvest
months. We conclude that simultaneous
application of 1-MCP is more effective
than the more common method of
extending banana shelf life through
application of 1-MCP after ethylene
treatment.
