Extending shelf-life and preserving the quality of lady finger banana (Musa acuminata) via various postharvest treatments

In Sokra 1, 5, *, Rithy Lika 1, Horn Meta 1, Rin Chanra 3, Horn Linan 3, Touch Pang 2 and Horn Sarun 4

1 Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agro-Industry, University of Kratie, Cambodia.
2 Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Agro-Industry, University of Kratie, Cambodia
3 Department of Soil and Crop Production, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Kratie, Cambodia.
4 Centre for Agricultural and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Forestry Science, Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia.
5 Metabolic Engineering Research Unit, School of Biotechnology, Suranaree University of Technology, 111 University Avenue Suranaree, Muang Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand.
 
Research Article
International Journal of Science and Research Archive, 2024, 13(02), 2636–2645.
Article DOI: 10.30574/ijsra.2024.13.2.2460
Publication history: 
Received on 02 November 2024; revised on 09 December 2024; accepted on 11 December 2024
 
Abstract: 
Lady finger banana (Musa acuminata) is a popular fruit worldwide but tends to ripen and spoil quickly within a week after harvest. Postharvest treatment is a key factor in extending their shelf-life. This study aimed to determine the most suitable postharvest treatment for prolonging the shelf-life and maintaining the quality of lady finger bananas when combined with polyethylene bags. A 30-day storage study was conducted using 216 bananas arranged in a completely randomized design, with four treatments: T0 (control), T1 (3% citric acid), T2 (3% sodium benzoate), and T3 (0.022% sodium hypochlorite). Peel color, weight loss, pH, sugar content, and spoilage were measured every five days. The results showed that T3 (sodium hypochlorite) was the most effective treatment for extending shelf-life and maintaining quality. While variations in peel color, weight loss, pH, and sugar content across treatments were not statistically significant (p > 0.05), the percentages of spoiled bananas were significantly different (p < 0.01). Compared with other treatments, T3 resulted in the lowest percentage of spoilage (36.11% ± 8.81%). Additional findings for T3 included a weight loss of 2.53 ± 0.44%, a pH of 5.60 ± 0.06, and a sugar content of 16.2 ± 1.59 after 30 days. However, citric acid and sodium benzoate treatments were not effective at extending shelf-life or maintaining quality when used with polyethylene bags. In conclusion, sodium hypochlorite combined with polyethylene packaging was more effective at extending the shelf-life and preserving the quality of lady finger bananas.
 
Keywords: 
Musa acuminata; Postharvest treatments; Citric acid; Sodium benzoate; Sodium hypochlorite; Shelf-life extension
 
Full text article in PDF: 
 
Copyright information: 

Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0