Influence of coating materials on physical parameters of grand naine cultivar of banana during storage at ambient condition

Introduction

Banana (Musa paradisiaca L.), belonging to the family Musaceae, is one of the important tropical fruit crops grown worldwide. It is widely consumed in fresh as well as processed forms due to its good taste, nutritional value, affordability and easy digestibility. The crop is characterized by a tall herbaceous perennial plant with a pseudo stem formed by tightly overlapping leaf sheaths and large spirally arranged leaves, attaining a height of about 6-8 m (Rahman et al., 2006) [13] . Banana is considered one of the oldest fruit crops cultivated by humans and has been associated with the cultural and religious traditions of India since ancient times. It is an important energy-rich fruit due to its high carbohydrate and vitamin content. Almost every part of the plant is utilized for different purposes. Cultivated bananas are mainly derived from the wild species Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana and are supported by well-developed production and marketing systems (Patel et al., 2018) [12] . Banana and plantain are important fruit crops of tropical regions and contribute significantly to food security and agricultural economies. Their cultivation provides employment opportunities and serves as an important source of income for farmers in banana-growing areas (Harrison and Schwarzacher, 2007) [7] . India is the leading producer of banana, contributing nearly 25% of global production. The crop is cultivated over about 0.995 million ha with a production of 37.47 million tonnes and productivity of 37-38 tonnes per ha. Tamil Nadu is the major producing state, followed by Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka (Anon., 2024a). In Chhattisgarh, banana is cultivated across almost all districts, covering about 24.54 thousand ha with a production of 590.157 thousand tonnes and productivity of 24.04 tonnes per ha. Balrampur has the largest cultivated area, while Raigarh records the highest production (Anon., 2024b).

Banana is an important nutritious fruit rich in carbohydrates, dietary fibre, minerals and vitamins. It provides about 89 kcal energy and 21.8 g carbohydrates per 100 g fresh pulp, along with appreciable amounts of potassium, calcium, magnesium and ascorbic acid (Rahman et al., 2020) [14] . Banana is highly susceptible to post-harvest losses of about 30-40% due to improper handling, inadequate storage, senescence, browning and microbial growth. Under ambient conditions, its shelf life is generally limited to 10-12 days, while mechanical injuries further reduce fruit quality and marketability. Edible coatings are safe and eco-friendly post-harvest treatments that form a protective layer on the fruit surface and help reduce moisture and gas exchange. They can be applied by dipping, spraying or brushing and are useful for extending storage life and maintaining fruit quality (Baldwin et al., 2011) [4] . An edible coating is a thin, consumable layer that regulates the transfer of moisture, oxygen and solutes between the fruit and its surroundings (McHugh and Senesi, 2000) [10] . Due to their edible, nontoxic and biodegradable nature, edible coatings are increasingly used for improving fruit quality and shelf life.

Materials and methods

Fresh, mature and uniform-sized banana fruits were collected from the field of Commercial Tissue Culture Laboratory, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (CG) at the appropriate stage of maturity and brought to the Horticulture Processing Laboratory, Department of Fruit Science, College of Agriculture, IGKV, Raipur for the study. The fruits were properly washed and cleaned before the application of treatment. Each fruits were then coated individually with the respective coating materials according to the treatment combinations. The experiment was conducted in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 11 treatments and 3 replications, comprising 396 fruits in total, with 12 fruits per treatment per replication. The treatments were T₀: Control, T₁: Moringa extract 10%, T₂: Aloe vera 50%, T₃: Rice starch 3%, T₄: Chitosan 2%, T₅: Moringa extract 10% + Chitosan 2%, T₆: Moringa extract 10% + Aloe vera 50%, T₇: Moringa extract 10% + Rice starch 3%, T₈: Aloe vera 50% + Chitosan 2%, T₉: Aloe vera 50% + Rice starch 3% and T₁₀: Rice starch 3% + Chitosan 2%. Following treatment application, the coated fruits were arranged in trays and stored under ambient conditions at 22-24 °C. The experiment was continued until the fruits reached the acceptable quality stage to assess the influence of different coating materials on shelf life, ripening behaviour and physico-chemical characteristics of banana fruits. The observations were recorded at every 3 days interval on fruit weight (g), fruit diameter (mm), physiological loss in weight (%), fruit firmness (kg/cm²) and shelf life (days).

Results and Discussion

Physical parameters of banana fruits:

The results obtained for these parameters are presented in Tables 1 to 5.

The fruit weight of banana exhibited significant variation among different coating treatments throughout the storage period. Among the evaluated treatments, fruits treated with T5 Moringa extract 10% + Chitosan 2% recorded the highest fruit weight of 2250.12, 2242.57, 2189.67, 2080.66 2049.62 and 1982.31g on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th day of storage, respectively. In contrast, the lowest fruit weight of 1780.97, 1672.71, 1498.80 and 1299.00 g was recorded in T0 (control) on the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th day of storage, respectively. Fruits under the control treatment could not be retained up to the 15th and 18thdays of storage. The higher fruit weight retention in Moringa extract 10% +Chitosan 2% coated fruits may be attributed to the formation of a protective layer over the fruit surface, which reduces moisture loss during storage. Similar observations were reported by Tareque et al. (2020) [15,17] [6] in custard apple.

Fruit diameter (mm): Significant differences were observed among the coating treatments with respect to fruit diameter during storage. The maximum fruit diameter was recorded in fruits treated with T5 Moringa extract 10% +Chitosan 2% with values of 14.50, 14.38, 14.29, 14.09, 13.90 and 13.25 mm on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th day of storage, respectively. On the other hand, the minimum fruit diameter of 13.02, 13.00, 12.78 and 12.07 mm was observed in T0 (control) on the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th day of storage, respectively. No fruits from the control treatment remained available for observation on the 15th and 18th days of storage. The better retention of fruit diameter in Moringa extract 10% +Chitosan 2% treated fruits could be associated with reduced moisture loss and delayed deterioration during storage. These findings are in conformity with the observations of Malmiri et al. (2011) [8] , Tareque at al. (2020) [17] in banana and Sharmin et al. (2015) [16] in papaya fruits.

The physiological loss in weight (%) of banana fruits differed significantly among the treatments during storage. The minimum weight loss of 3.18, 6.42, 10.23, 12.32, 12.40 and 12.46 % was recorded in fruits treated with T5: Moringa extract 10% + Chitosan 2% on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th day of storage, respectively. In comparison, the maximum weight loss of 8.00, 10.31, 14.92 and 18.52% was recorded in T0 (control) on the 3th, 6th, 9th and 12th day of storage, respectively. Fruits under the control treatment were not available for further observations on the 15th and 18th days due to their rapid deterioration. The lower PLW observed in Moringa extract 10% +Chitosan 2% coated fruits may be attributed to the semi-permeable coating formed on the fruit surface, which restricted moisture loss and thereby maintained the fruit weight for a longer period. The present findings are in close agreement with those reported by Golhani et al. (2013) [6] in custard apple, Marpudi at al. (2013) [9] in fig and Malmiri et al. (2011) [8] in banana fruits.

The fruit firmness of banana varied significantly among the different coating treatments during the storage period. The highest fruit firmness of 9.23, 9.10, 7.79, 6.25, 4.19 and 3.87 kg/cm² was recorded in fruits treated with T5: Moringa extract 10% +Chitosan 2% on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th day of storage, respectively. In contrast, the lowest fruit firmness of 8.52, 8.20, 7.00 and 5.12 kg/cm² was observed in T0 (control) on the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th day of storage, respectively. Fruits under the control treatment were not available for further observations on the 15th and 18th days of storage. The higher retention of firmness in Moringa extract 10% +Chitosan 2% treated fruits may be attributed to the coating layer formed on the fruit surface, which helped to reduce moisture loss and retard the softening process during storage. Similar findings were reported by Mendy et al. (2019) [1,11] in papaya Adetunji et al. (2012) in pineapple, Brishti et al. (2013) [5] in papaya and Malmiri et al. (2011) [8] in banana.

Significant variation in the shelf-life of banana fruits was observed among the different coating treatments. The maximum shelf-life of 18.48 days was recorded in T₅ Moringa extract 10% + Chitosan 2%, which was statistically at par with T₈ (Aloe vera 50% + Chitosan 2%) having 18.44 days, T₁₀ (Rice starch 3% + Chitosan 2%) having 18.41 days, T₄ (Chitosan 2%) having 18.35 days and T₆ (Moringa extract 10% + Aloe vera 50%) having 18.23 days. A moderate increase in shelf-life (15.00 days) was observed in T₁ (Moringa extract 10%), which stood significantly distinct from the others. In comparison, the minimum shelf-life of 12.35 days was recorded in T₀ (control). The treatment-wise values are presented in Table 5. The present findings are in accordance with the observations of Adetunji et al. (2012) [1] in pineapple fruits, Sharmin et al. (2015) [16] in papaya; Malmiri et al. (2011) [8] , Tareque at al. (2020) [17] in banana fruits.

Discussion: The overall results indicated that coating treatments were effective in maintaining the physical quality and extending the storage life of banana fruits under ambient conditions. T₅ (Moringa extract 10% + Chitosan 2%) consistently performed better than the other treatments by retaining higher fruit weight and fruit diameter, recording lower weight loss and maintaining higher fruit firmness throughout storage, which was reflected in its maximum shelf-life of 18.48 days. The better retention of fruit weight and diameter and the lower weight loss may be attributed to the protective coating layer formed on the fruit surface, which reduced moisture loss during storage. The higher retention of firmness may likewise be associated with reduced moisture loss and retardation of the softening process. The prolonged shelf-life may be related to reduced physiological deterioration, moisture loss and softening, thereby delaying the overall ripening process. These findings are in agreement with observations reported by Tareque et al. (2020) [17] in banana fruits, Saste et al. (2023) [15] in sapota, Marpudi et al. (2013) [9] in fig, Golhani et al.

(2013) [6] in custard apple, Malmiri et al. (2011) [8] in banana. The superscript letter indicates that the treatment means with same letters are at par at 5% level of significance, while the means with different letters are significantly different at 5% level of significance. These letters have been affixed based on CD-value comparison of treatment means.

References

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