Effect of fruit maturity on efficiency of 1-methylcyclopropene to delay the ripening of bananas
D. R. Harris, J. A. Seberry, R. B. H. Wills and L. J. Spohr
Postharvest Biology and Technology Vol: 20 Issue: 3 Pages: 303-308
2000
บทคัดย่อ
Three bunches of unripe `Williams' banana fruit of different maturity, 173,
156 and 71 days from bunch emergence, were harvested. Fruit from the top,
bottom and middle hands from each bunch were fumigated for 24 h with
1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) at 0, 5, 50 or 500 nl l-1 at
20oC. All fruit were then stored at 20oC in air
containing 0.1 
l l-1
ethylene and the time taken for each fruit to ripen (green life) was noted. The
green life of fruit treated with 500 nl l-1 1-MCP varied with fruit
maturity. In the two most mature bunches it was 27.9±2.3 days, 4-fold longer
than fruit fumigated with 0 nl l-1 1-MCP (6.7±0.6 days). In the
least mature bunch, green life was 39.7±3.0 days, 1.5-fold longer than fruit
fumigated with 0 nl l-1 1-MCP (25.7±2.5 days). Most fruit treated
with 500 nl l-1 1-MCP showed an unacceptable uneven skin colouration
when ripe. There was no significant effect on green life of 1-MCP at 50 nl l-1
and 5 nl l-1. Other fruit from these bunches were not exposed to
1-MCP and were held in ethylene-free air until ripe. In the two most mature
bunches, these fruit had a significantly shorter green life (11.2±5.6 days in
hand 1; 18.9±4.1 days in hands 4 and 6) than fruit that were fumigated with 500
nl l-1 1-MCP. In the least mature bunch, however, these fruit had a
significantly longer green life (56.0±5.9 days) than 1-MCP treated fruit. Since
the effectiveness of 1-MCP varied with fruit maturity and in any commercial
consignment there is a mixture of fruit maturity, it is concluded that 1-MCP
has limited commercial potential for the storage of unripe `Williams' bananas.