Potentials of Chitin Nanofiber for Postharvest Quality of Banana

Abstract

Bananas are perishable fruit with a limited shelf life. Postharvest treatments can help reduce the loss experienced after harvesting. This study investigated the effect of different concentrations of chitin nanofiber (CNF) on the postharvest quality and shelf life of bananas. The green mature banana fruits were coated with three concentrations of CNF (0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.5%), while the untreated fruits were served as control. Following treatments, fruits were stored in ambient conditions at 29 ± 2° C and 85 ± 5% relative humidity (RH). To identify the effectiveness of CNF, weight loss, firmness, color, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), vitamin C, disease incidence, and disease severity were measured. Though CNF 0.1% coating reduced disease severity and retained vitamin C of banana, CNF 0.3% significantly decreased weight loss and disease incidence and increased firmness of fruit compared to the control. CNF 0.3% also resulted in the lowest TA and delayed fruit ripening. Moreover, the shelf life of bananas was extended by 2.34 days with the application of CNF 0.3%. Therefore, the application CNF 0.3% is recommended for preserving postharvest qualities.