Jingtair Siriphanich

Effect of modified atmosphere storage on the shelf life of banana 'Sucrier'

Summary We investigated the effects of modified atmosphere (MA) packaging on the quality of the banana cultivar Sucrier, its shelf life, and its content of sugar and dopamine. Peel browning is correlated with dopamine levels. Mature green bananas were treated with 500 ppm ethephon and stored for 24 h at 25°C as a ripening treatment. Bananas with stage 3 peels (more green than yellow) were used for the experiments. The sugar content of the pulp and the dopamine content in the peel increased and decreased during storage for several days at 20°C, respectively. PVC packaging prevented decrease in dopamine content but delayed the increase in the sugar level. The shelf life of bananas determined by senescent peel spotting was 6–7 d in PVC packaging, compared with 3–4 d in the control. Packaging bananas with MA using polyethylene (PE) bags (0.03 mm) at 20°C was unsuitable for prolonging shelf life because it inhibited ripening and resulted in a flavour of fermentation.

Durian ( Durio zibethinus Merr.)

Abstract: Durian is one of the most important fruits grown in South-East Asia. It is named king of fruit due to its rich sweet creamy delicious taste with strong distinctive odor. This chapter includes discussion of its unique biology, surprising nutritional value, volatiles, factors affecting quality, complicated maturity indices, handling procedure, disorders, important pests and their control, processed products and potential medicinal uses.

Two abscission zones proximal to Lansium domesticum fruit: one more sensitive to exogenous ethylene than the other

Longkong (Lansium domesticum) fruit grows in bunches and is also sold as bunches. Individual fruit can separate from the bunch both before and after commercial harvest. The fruit has two separation sites. The first is located between bracts on the stem and the fused sepals (separation zone 1: SZ1) and the second between the fused sepals and the fruit (separation zone 2: SZ2). True abscission occurred at both zones. We investigated whether the two zones were active at different stages of development and if they were differentially sensitive to ethylene. Abscission occurred in the SZ1 in very young fruit (fruit still at the ovary stage), during early fruit development (5 weeks after full bloom; WAFB), and in ripe and overripe fruit (15–17 WAFB). Abscission did not spontaneously occur in the SZ2, but by the time the fruit was fully ripe, 15 WAFB, and later, a slight mechanical force was sufficient to break this zone. In fruit bunches severed from the tree at 5, 8, and 13 WAFB, break strength (BS) in SZ1 decreased much more after exogenous ethylene treatment than that in SZ2. Ethylene induced abscission in the SZ1, but not in SZ2. At 5, 8, and 13 WAFB, treatment with 1-methylcyclopropane (1-MCP; an inhibitor of ethylene perception) had a small effect on BS in the SZ1 and no effect in the SZ2. It is concluded that abscission in the SZ1 was much more sensitive to ethylene than that in the SZ2. In intact plants SZ1 reacts to endogenous ethylene, e.g., as a result of stress, while SZ2 apparently allows animals to remove the ripe fruit from the tree with minimal force.