Study of banana preservation extension by UVC radiation in precise monitoring LED irradiation cavity

Abstract

Ultraviolet C (UVC) radiation has been considered a possible option to alleviate the seriousness of black spots on bananas during preservation which help increase economic efficiency. In this study, using 275 nm UVC light-emitting diodes (LEDs), a preliminary cavity with dimensions of 30 × 30 × 30 cm was designed and fabricated to aid in reducing black spots on bananas with the aim of application in the factory conveyor belts. The UVC irradiance distribution was thoroughly monitored for many sections at different box heights in both simulation and measurement, with a dominant range of 6–9 W/m2 in the middle. Afterward, trials were conducted in vitro and in vivo at different selected UVC doses. The results in vitro revealed that a dose of over 0.36 kJ/m2 has an excellent effect on inhibiting the colonial germination of fungal Colletotrichum musae, a common species of fungi causing black spot disease on bananas. In vivo conditions, with a short exposure time of around 5 s, the black spots on UVC-irradiated banana peel significantly reduced with minimal sensory damage compared to a control banana via observation after seven days from treatment. Finally, the optimal UVC dose is proposed from 0.030 to 0.045 kJ/m2 for the one-time treatment when considering the upper surface of the banana. With flexibility advantage and short exposure time, the fabricated cavity (box) promises to bring a lot of application potential to aid banana preservation in factories and households.

Reliable monitoring UV-C irradiation of a specific LED system for application in extending the postharvest life of bananas

“…In this work, a 275 nm UV-C LED system with dimensions of 30 × 30 × 30 cm was established to conduct the treatment for bananas to aid in extending their shelf life [11]. The appropriate UV-C dose is proposed by monitoring the irradiance distribution of the cavity and estimating the suitable exposure time.…”

efficient decay model for studying the luminous flux behavior of phosphor-converted white light-emitting diodes

“…Phosphor-converted white light-emitting diodes (pcW-LEDs) based solid-state lighting (SSL) have been intensively applied due to many advantages such as environment friendly, high energy efficiency, high color rendering performance, compact size, and brightness [1][2][3][4]. The pcW-LEDs-based applications in vehicle lamps, indoor lighting, agriculture, signal display, and medical devices are extensively developed [5][6][7][8]. Besides many advantages of pcW-LEDs, there is still an inherent issue of pcW-LEDs relating to generating heat, which originates from blue light emitting diodes (LED) chips and yellow phosphor during the operating process of pcW-LEDs.…”