PHYTOHORMONES AND SIGNAL MOLECULES FOR SHELF LIFE ENHANCEMENT OF GRAND NAINE BANANA FRUIT

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of phytohormones and signal molecules on shelf life improvement of banana fruit. According to the findings, fruits treated with 150ppm GA3 retained the excellent fruit quality with the maximum fruit firmness (60.33N), highest score for colour, appearance, taste and flavour, overall acceptance and fruits were able to keep for 24.33 days and extended the shelf life for 8 days over control. The physiological weight loss of fruits, irrespective of treatments,increased with advancement of storage period. But, the minimum(4.58%)physiological weight loss of fruits was recorded in the fruits treated with 150ppm GA3and maximum (28.57%) was observed in fruits treated with ABA 10μM at 20 days after storage.The maximum total carbohydrates (30g/100g), slow decline in the carbohydrate content and slow colour changes with the maximum green life (17.00days) was also observed in fruits treated with150ppm GA3. The treatment with SNP 1mM exhibited the maximum yellow life (7.67days) and finally extended the shelf life up to 23 days. Thus, it can be inferred from the study that GA3 extends the shelf life of banana fruit by maintaining fruit firmness, minimizing the rate of respiration and can be explored for improving post-harvest storage and marketing efficiency.