THE EFFECTS OF CHARCOAL FROM DIFFERENT AGRICULTURAL WASTES IN REDUCING ETHYLENE PRODUCTION OF BERANGAN BANANA (Musa sp. AAA Berangan)

Abstract

Banana is a climacteric fruit, it produces enough ethylene bringing about speedy changes in
physico-chemical characteristics, including colour, texture, aroma, chemical composition,
respiration rate and senescence. Ethylene, a colourless gas, is the main regulator of ripening
in climacteric fruits which leads to the short marketable life and increase postharvest losses.
These losses can be reduced by adopting various postharvest management practices that are
currently in practice all over the world. One of the most effective ethylene removals is
potassium permanganate. However, the usage of non-commercial charcoal from agricultural
wastes that capable to remove or absorb ethylene such as palm kernel shell (PKS), sugarcane
bagasse (SB) and coconut shell (CS) is scarce. The treatments were i) control (without
ethylene absorbent), ii) 25g PKS, iii) 25g CS, and iv) 50g SB charcoal with 3 replications. The
postharvest parameters assessment were internal ethylene production, fruit colour indices,
firmness, titratable acidity (TA), soluble solids concentration (SSC), weight loss and starch
pattern index (SPI). Internal ethylene production was assessed on daily basis. Meanwhile,
other quality parameters were assessed on every four days interval. PKS had the ability to
delay the climacteric peak of the ethylene production and prolong the shelf life of Berangan
banana, without significant reduction in its postharvest quality. In addition, PKS charcoal
were light, easy to obtain and cheaper ethylene adsorbent. In contrast, SB charcoal was less
effective in delaying the ripening of Berangan banana. The shelf life of Berangan banana can
be extended up to 6 days with no apparent changes in colour and weight loss.