Effect of Hot Water Treatments on Postharvest Life of Seeni Kesel Banana (Musa spp.cv. Seeni Kesel-Pisang Awak, ABB)

Aims: To evaluate the effect of hot water treatments on shelf life and de-greening of stored Seeni Kesel banana (Musa spp. cv. Seeni Kesel-Pisang Awak, ABB), which is commonly grown in Sri Lanka.
Study Design: A randomized complete block design with six replicates was used.
Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was conducted in Faculty of Agriculture, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka during April to July experimental period in 2012.
Methodology: Banana fingers were dipped in hot water regimes of 30°C, 40ºC, 50°C and 60°C for 5 and 10 min in experiment 1 and 35ºC, 40ºC, 45ºC, 50ºC and 55ºC for 5 min in experiment 2 using a hot water bath. Fruit surface colour was evaluated by a scoring method, total soluble solid content of fruits, taste level, andin vitro microbial growth were recorded. Five fingers were included in a replicate.
Results: Banana fingers treated with 40ºC remained green with 6.25 scores whereas control reduced it significantly to 4.75 on day 3 of storage. However, both 30ºC and 50ºC treated fruits were in same value and no significant difference in colour scores than 40ºC. There were no significant differences of scores for taste and Brix value among different hot water treatments compared to the control. Over 40ºC hot water treatment suppressed in vitro microbial growth significantly from 0.1cm to 0 compared to control (0.8 cm).
Conclusion: These analyses showed that 40ºC was comparatively best hot water treatment to reduce the de-greening of ‘Seeni Kesel’ banana and hence increase the postharvest life without affecting consumer preference. Hot water treatments over 40ºC significantly suppressed the in vitro growth of microbes on fruit surface.