Abstract
The short shelf-life of fruits in the tropics continues to be a pressing problem for farmers and other value chain actors. Hexanal is a naturally occurring compound that has received attention as a novel postharvest compound preservative. This study was conducted to determine the effect of hexanal on enhancing the postharvest shelf-life and quality of ‘sweet banana’ fruits. Two hexanal concentrations (2% and 3%) were applied as either a pre-harvest spray or a post-harvest dip. Fruits were obtained from two different agro ecological zones of Kenya (AEZs II and IV). The treated fruits were kept under ambient room conditions of 25 ± 1°C and RH 60 ± 5% to ripen. Hexanal treatment maintained the fruits quality and prolonged the shelf-life by 6 days in the dipped fruits, 6 and 3 days in the sprayed fruits from the drier AEZ IV and colder AEZ II respectively compared to the untreated controls. Hexanal treatments significantly (P = .05) delayed or reduced the rate of most of the physicochemical parameters analysed irrespective of the concentration and mode of application used. Fruit firmness was significantly (P = .05) maintained up to day 6 and 9 of storage in the treated fruits compared to the controls which softened drastically as from day 3 and 6 in the sprayed and dipped fruits respectively. Hexanal treatment delayed ethylene and respiratory peaks by 3 days in both modes of application and significantly delayed progression of other ripening related changes such as 0Brix, titratable acidity, simple sugars and vitamin C. Sensory evaluation showed no significant differences in the various quality attributes analysed between the hexanal treated and control fruits. The results of this study indicate that, use of hexanal is a potential technology that could be adopted by banana farmers to enhance post-harvest shelf-life without compromising on quality.
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Claims 12
Claim · model-written summary
Hexanal dip prolonged banana shelf life by six days versus untreated controls.
Verbatim
e0“Hexanal treatment maintained the fruits quality and prolonged the shelf-life by 6 days in the dipped fruits, 6 and 3 days in the sprayed fruits from the drier AEZ IV and colder AEZ II respectively compared to the untreated controls.”
t0“Banana Fruits”
Claim · model-written summary
Hexanal spray prolonged shelf life by six days in AEZ IV.
Verbatim
e0“prolonged the shelf-life by 6 days in the dipped fruits, 6 and 3 days in the sprayed fruits from the drier AEZ IV and colder AEZ II respectively compared to the untreated controls”
t0“Banana Fruits”
Claim · model-written summary
Hexanal spray prolonged shelf life by three days in AEZ II.
Verbatim
e0“prolonged the shelf-life by 6 days in the dipped fruits, 6 and 3 days in the sprayed fruits from the drier AEZ IV and colder AEZ II respectively compared to the untreated controls”
t0“Banana Fruits”
Claim · model-written summary
Hexanal maintained fruit quality.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Hexanal treatment maintained the fruits quality and prolonged the shelf-life”
t0“Banana Fruits”
Claim · model-written summary
Hexanal significantly delayed or reduced most measured physicochemical changes.
- Taxon
- bananat0
- Treatment
- Hexanal treatmentse0
- Outcome
- rate of most of the physicochemical parameterse0
- Direction
- delayed or reducede0
- Qualifier
- irrespective of the concentration and mode of application usede0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Hexanal treatments significantly (P = .05) delayed or reduced the rate of most of the physicochemical parameters analysed irrespective of the concentration and mode of application used.”
t0“Banana Fruits”
Claim · model-written summary
Hexanal maintained fruit firmness through storage days six and nine compared with controls.
Verbatim
e0“Fruit firmness was significantly (P = .05) maintained up to day 6 and 9 of storage in the treated fruits compared to the controls which softened drastically as from day 3 and 6 in the sprayed and dipped fruits respectively.”
t0“Banana Fruits”
Claim · model-written summary
Hexanal delayed ethylene peaks by three days.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Hexanal treatment delayed ethylene and respiratory peaks by 3 days in both modes of application”
t0“Banana Fruits”
Claim · model-written summary
Hexanal delayed respiratory peaks by three days.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Hexanal treatment delayed ethylene and respiratory peaks by 3 days in both modes of application”
t0“Banana Fruits”
Claim · model-written summary
Hexanal significantly delayed changes in soluble solids, acidity and simple sugars.
- Taxon
- bananat0
- Treatment
- Hexanal treatmente0
- Outcome
- 0Brix, titratable acidity, simple sugarse0
- Direction
- delayede0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Hexanal treatment delayed ethylene and respiratory peaks by 3 days in both modes of application and significantly delayed progression of other ripening related changes such as 0Brix, titratable acidity, simple sugars and vitamin C”
t0“Banana Fruits”
Claim · model-written summary
Hexanal significantly delayed vitamin C changes.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Hexanal treatment delayed ethylene and respiratory peaks by 3 days in both modes of application and significantly delayed progression of other ripening related changes such as 0Brix, titratable acidity, simple sugars and vitamin C”
t0“Banana Fruits”
Claim · model-written summary
Sensory quality attributes did not differ significantly between treated and control fruit.
Verbatim
e0“Sensory evaluation showed no significant differences in the various quality attributes analysed between the hexanal treated and control fruits.”
t0“Banana Fruits”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend hexanal for extending banana shelf life without compromising quality.
Verbatim
e0“use of hexanal is a potential technology that could be adopted by banana farmers to enhance post-harvest shelf-life without compromising on quality”
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