Abstract
Bananas were coated with 2% sucrose palmitic acid ester after treatment with 100 ppm ethylene for 12 h and stored at 20°C. The use of 2% sucrose palmitic acid ester coating significantly reduced weight loss, and retarded degreening and delayed ripening of banana. The rate of ethylene production was significantly reduced and the rate of respiration reduced up to 4 days in storage by the coating. In vivo and in vitro 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) oxidase activities were studied in the peel and pulp tissues of the ripening banana during storage. The in vitro ACC oxidase activity was higher than that of in vivo. The changes in both in vivo and in vitro ACC oxidase activities showed that the coating reduced this activity in the peel tissue of banana but had almost no effect on the ACC oxidase activity in the pulp tissue. These results suggested that the coating treatment reduced the ethylene biosynthesis of the banana fruit through reduction of the activity of ACC oxidase of the banana peel tissue.
