Effect of Hexanal as a Post-harvest Treatment to Extend the Shelf-life of Banana Fruits (Musa acuminata var. Sweet Banana) in Kenya

Abstract

The short shelf-life of fruits in the tropics continues to be a pressing problem for farmers and other value chain actors. Hexanal is a naturally occurring compound that has received attention as a novel postharvest compound preservative. This study was conducted to determine the effect of hexanal on enhancing the postharvest shelf-life and quality of ‘sweet banana’ fruits. Two hexanal concentrations (2% and 3%) were applied as either a pre-harvest spray or a post-harvest dip. Fruits were obtained from two different agro ecological zones of Kenya (AEZs II and IV). The treated fruits were kept under ambient room conditions of 25 ± 1°C and RH 60 ± 5% to ripen. Hexanal treatment maintained the fruits quality and prolonged the shelf-life by 6 days in the dipped fruits, 6 and 3 days in the sprayed fruits from the drier AEZ IV and colder AEZ II respectively compared to the untreated controls. Hexanal treatments significantly (P = .05) delayed or reduced the rate of most of the physicochemical parameters analysed irrespective of the concentration and mode of application used. Fruit firmness was significantly (P = .05) maintained up to day 6 and 9 of storage in the treated fruits compared to the controls which softened drastically as from day 3 and 6 in the sprayed and dipped fruits respectively. Hexanal treatment delayed ethylene and respiratory peaks by 3 days in both modes of application and significantly delayed progression of other ripening related changes such as 0Brix, titratable acidity, simple sugars and vitamin C. Sensory evaluation showed no significant differences in the various quality attributes analysed between the hexanal treated and control fruits. The results of this study indicate that, use of hexanal is a potential technology that could be adopted by banana farmers to enhance post-harvest shelf-life without compromising on quality.

Postharvest hexanal application delays senescence and maintains quality in persimmon fruit during low‐temperature storage

“…reported similar results, where they found that control mango fruit showed higher respiration rate and ethylene synthesis than hexanal‐treated fruit during 35 days of storage. Lower respiration rate and ethylene synthesis in hexanal‐treated fruit as compared to control has also been described by many scientists in a variety of fruit, including apple, 39 mango 28 and banana 56 . However, contradictory results were also reported in many fruit, including tomato 23,37 and capsicum 24 …”

“…Lower respiration rate and ethylene synthesis in hexanal-treated fruit as compared to control has also been described by many scientists in a variety of fruit, including apple, 39 mango 28 and banana. 56 However, contradictory results were also reported in many fruit, including tomato 23,37 and capsicum. 24 Organic acids are considered the main substrates of the biogenesis of aromatic compounds, respiration and gluconeogenesis processes, and caused a decline in TA concentration.…”

Hexanal Treatment for Improving the Shelf-life and Quality of Fruits: A Review

“…In addition, the expression of three PLD genes was significantly down-regulated (Kumar et al, 2018). The shelf-life of bananas was extended by spraying them with 2%-3% hexanal on days 15 and 30 pre-harvest and dipping them in hexanal post-harvest (Yumbya et al, 2018). However, pre-harvest 2%-3% hexanal spray showed better fruit preservation (Yumbya et al, 2018).…”

Improvement of the shelf life and physico-chemical parameters of papaya fruits (Carica papaya L., cv. solo 8) by hexanal pre-harvest application

“…Fruit ripening and senescence have shown that the softening process is accompanied by the initiation of membrane damage, possibly involving phospholipase D (PLD). One of the recent, promising and innovative methods for fruit preservation is the use of hexanal [11,12]. Hexanal is a natural substance synthesised by plants via the lipoxygenase pathway after tissue damage or stress.…”