Abstract

                                Climacteric fruits respond well to the environmental temperature, because the respiration rate and ethylene production would vary according to the temperature. Banana fruit possess very short postharvest life, prone to injuries and postharvest disorders like weak neck because of the climacteric and perishable nature of the fruit. Hence an attempt was made with α- Amino isobutyric acid (AIB) to study the weak neck disorder of the banana under cold storage condition to increase the postharvest life. AIB is an ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor which inhibits the ethylene synthesis by inhibiting ACC oxidase enzyme. Banana fruits were treated with different AIB concentrations (50, 100, 150, 200 ppm along with control) and spraying methods (Dipping and Spraying). AIB @ 150 ppm dipped for 5 minutes showed decreased finger dislodge from the hands (50-70 per cent at 11th day after treatment) compared to control fruits (100 per cent at 9th day after treatment). On comparing AIB with ethylene inhibitor (1-MCP) and chemicals (Hexanal and calcium chloride) under cold and ambient storage condition, AIB showed better result with reduced finger drop. At 11th day of cold storage AIB treated fruits exhibited minimum finger drop of 50 per cent followed by 1-MCP vaporization with finger drop percentage of 60 and control fruits reported the maximum number of finger drop (90 per cent). Under ambient condition at 7th day itself the AIB treated fruits showed 60 per cent finger drop. Hence from the present study, the external temperature would alter the storage life of the fruits which may be an important factor and noted for further improvement of postharvest life of fruits by storing under required temperatures and minimizing the postharvest losses.

Key words : : Weak neck, α- Amino isobutyric acid, Storage condition.