Effect of 1-Methylcyclopropene on ripening of Namwa banana

Abstract

     Effect of 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on ripening of banana (Musa sapientum L., ABB group) cv. “Namwa Mali-Ong” was established by using the mature green banana harvested from farmer’s orchard at San Sai district, Chiang Mai province. The uniformity of the plant materials, beside the diseased and insect-free banana, was classified by position of hands on the bunch of banana. The experiment was designed as completely randomized design (CRD) with 3 replications. There were 4 treatments as follow: control (non-fumigated) and fumigated with 1-MCP for 1 hour at concentration levels of 450, 900 and 1800 ppb. After fumigated or non-fumigated treatments, all plant materials were set at room conditions (28-30 °C and 80-85% RH) for the data collection up to 13 days. The results showed that Namwa banana of all concentrations of 1-MCP treatment showed longer storage life compared to the control. The untreated bananas were ripened within 6 days after storage as determined by yellow score of peel color and the decreased in starch content of the flesh part as determined by iodine solution. Whereas those of 1-MCP treated bananas showed ripened symptoms within 8 days after harvesting. For the storage life, as determined by dark brown color of banana peel, the untreated banana showed storage life of 7.67 days compared to about 12 days of treated banana. The results showed that concentration of 1-MCP as lower than 1,000 ppb could help to extend storage life of Namwa banana compared to non-treated banana.