Combined effect of cold shock and aloe Vera gel coating on extending shelf life and post-harvest quality of fresh lady finger banana (musa acuminata) fruits

Abstract

Banana of (Musa sp) is a major food in most tropical countries of the world and its rich in easily digestible carbohydrates with calorific value of 72-135. Bananas are grown in more than 130 countries by both small and large-scale. In Uganda, banana food production area is estimated to be about 668,000 Ha. Even though the production of bananas is high worldwide, its value chain is constrained by a number of factors leading to global food insecurity. Despite of its nutritive value, farmers continue to incur losses due to poor postharvest handling techniques. In Uganda a loss of 14.9% has been reported for all cooked type bananas along the value chain out of which 7.2% get spoiled completely and have no residual value, while 7.7% get spoiled partially but can still be sold at a reduced market price. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring low-cost effective postharvest techniques for the reduction of qualitative and quantitative postharvest losses in lady finger banana fruits. In regard to postharvest losses facing banana farmers, an experiment was set up at Busitema university to test the effectiveness of combined treatment of cold shock and aloe Vera in extending shelf life and quality of fresh lady finger banana fruits using completely randomized design. Aloe Vera and ice block was obtained within Soroti city and prepared for use. Ladyfinger banana fruits was obtained from Serere district, Bugondo sub county. 180 ladyfinger banana fruit fingers were prepared and divided into 4 groups where each group received a different treatment i.e. 1st group(control), 2nd group (AG20%), 3rd group (CS 40min) and 4th group (CS40+AG20%). And the experiment was replicated 3 times. The experiment was set in the laboratory at room temperature. Data was collected for 15 days at an interval of 5 days on the following parameters; peel color, %weight loss, PH, TA, TSS, ripening index, Vitamin c. Data was put on spreadsheet and analysis was done by GenStat 13th edition and the graph was drawn using touchpad prism. The analysis of variance showed all chlorophylls, carotenoid and shelf life. The result showed high significant at (P˂0.001) for all the treatment, time and their interaction. Combination was more effective than all the treatment in retention of; color, weight, TA, vitamin c, chlorophyll a & b, and slowing down the accumulation of carotenoid, TSS, and extended shelf life up to 15 days as it still had a mean scale of 6.000 while control was only able to maintain its shelf life up to 10 days. on other hand, CS and AG when used separately had slightly lower effect than control when used separately.