Articles
DEVELOPMENT OF MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE PACKAGES (MAP) FOR SEA TRANSPORT OF ‘KLUAI KHAI’ (BANANA)
It is becoming increasingly important for export, and nowadays shares the highest export value among commercial banana cultivars grown in Thailand.
Air transport plays an important role for export of perishable commodities like ‘Kluai Khai’. However, the cost and available space are critical for its export.
Sea transport is an alternative, with the most important factor being temperature management.
Refrigeration trials on local bananas showed that they may be kept as long as 2 weeks at the optimum temperature of 14°C. An alternative method is to use modified atmosphere (MA), which involves the use of polyethylene (PE) bags.
MA is supplemental to refrigeration, thus increasing the efficiency of refrigeration in extending the storage life of produce.
Bananas (‘Kluai Khai’) used in this study were purchased from a commercial orchard in Petchburi province in western Thailand.
Bananas were harvested at 80% maturity.
They were transported by truck to the laboratory within 2 hours after harvest.
They were dehanded and selected for uniformity of size, and cleaned in water containing 5% MgSO4 to remove latex from cut surfaces.
They were then dipped in 500 ppm thiabendazole for 2 – 3 min then allowed to dry, in order to control fruit rot.
Six to seven hands of bananas were randomly placed in individual non-perforated PE bags (75 cm wide x 110 cm long x 0.11 mm film thickness). PE bags containing bananas were individually packed in corrugated fibreboard cartons (40 x 48 x 22 cm). Three sachets of CO2 scrubbers (CS) and C2H4 absorbents (EA) were inserted into individual PE bags which were then twist-tied before closing the cartons.
The control bananas were also packed in corrugated fibreboard cartons in the same manner as above but without use of PE bags, CS and EA. All bananas were stored at 14 ± 1°C (85 – 90 % RH).
Bananas in twist-tied PE bags with only EA remained green for 4 weeks.
Ethylene concentrations within twist-tied PE bags with EA were very low, while concentrations of CO2 rapidly increased and of O2 rapidly decreased during storage.
Bananas in twist-tied PE bags with CS and EA remained green for more than 6 weeks, while bananas without PE bags developed a yellow color 3 weeks after storage.
The average of O2 and CO2 concentrations within twist-tied PE bags with CS and EA throughout the storage period were 8.7 and 6.2 %, respectively.
Soluble solids, total sugars, starch, firmness and peel color of bananas stored in MA changed slightly.
In addition, MA also reduced chilling injury of bananas.
After MA storage, bananas ripened normally after treatment with 500 ppm C2H4 for 2 days or 500 ppm ethephon at 25°C.
In conclusion, the results show clearly that MA techniques may be useful when exporting ‘Kluai Khai’ to distant markets, such as America and Europe, by enabling use of sea transport.