Shelf Life Extension of Banana (Musa spp.) using Hexanal Formulation as a Post-harvest Dip

Postharvest dipping of fruits in hexanal formulation extends the shelf life by inhibiting enzyme phospholipase D (PLD) activity. To enhance the postharvest shelf-life and quality of different banana cultivars viz., Grand Naine (AAA), Ney Poovan (AB), Poovan (AAB) and Rasthali (AAB) were treated with different concentration of hexanal formulations (1% and 2% Enhanced fresh formulation (EFF)) and stored at atmospheric storage condition. The results indicate that the quality characteristics of 2% EFF treated fruits of Grand Naine (AAA), Poovan (AAB) and Rasthali (AAB) were low TSS, total sugars, reducing sugars and acidity indicating the perpetuation in quality of fruits during storage life besides extended shelf life of fruits. Banana fruits treated with hexanal, irrespective of cultivars experienced a significant delay in weight loss and higher firmness as compared to respective control. The high-resolution imaging had clearly shown that the application of hexanal delayed the ripening process by the structural integrity of cells on skin and fruit pulp. The PLD enzyme activity, respiration and ethylene evolution rates (more than 10%) were markedly reduced over control due to hexanal treatment. Our results revealed that the application of hexanal formulation as postharvest dip treatment in different banana cultivars significantly enhanced shelf life over control besides continuance of quality during the storage period.