April 05, 2024 | Horticulturae |
A study conducted by Burapha University, Prince of Songkla University, and MGR College investigated the effectiveness of melatonin (MT) in mitigating chilling injury (CI) in banana pericarp. CI is a significant issue in banana storage, leading to quality degradation. The study applied different concentrations of MT (0, 50, and 100 µM/L) to bananas stored at 7°C for five days and assessed their quality daily.
The findings revealed that the MT100 treatment significantly reduced CI symptoms, including electrolytic leakage (EL) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, compared to untreated controls. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation was notably suppressed by MT, and levels of protective compounds like glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (AA) increased in bananas treated with higher MT concentrations. While total phenolic content (TPC) and total carotenoid contents (TCC) rose in MT-treated samples, the concentrations did not significantly affect them. Phenolic compounds such as gallic acid and chlorogenic acid showed continuous growth during storage, peaking in MT100-treated samples.
Additionally, enzyme activities related to degradation, such as lipoxygenase (LOX) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO), were effectively reduced by MT. The study suggests that a higher MT coating (100 µM/L) is a promising post-harvest strategy to lower CI and maintain banana quality during storage.
