APPLICATION OF FRUIT STORAGE CHAMBER EQUIPPED WITH TIO2-MN DECORATED PLATE TO DELAY RIPENING AND BROWNING PROCESS OF BANANA ‘CAVENDISH’

• Main Author: Adiela Agson Gani, Putri
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/68881
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Banana has a high economical value. However, the inappropriate post-harvest handling causing a high loss of products. Banana is a climacteric fruit, indicated by increased respiration rate following ethylene signal. Ethylene also has an autocatalytic ability. Ethylene will then induct the expression of several genes related to fruit ripening. During ripening, the fruit will experience sensory characteristic changing, such as flesh softening, increased sugar content, the transformation of peel color, and the appearance of browning senescence spot. Browning on banana peel will affect customers' preference. Browning is caused by an enzymatic process that oxidizes phenolic substrate into brown pigment (melanin). The polyphenol oxidase enzyme (PPO) is responsible for this process. Studies related to the technology that could delay the ripening process include, modified atmosphere packaging/storage, and the application of ethylene scavenger, such as TiO2. Previous studies on the mechanism of delayed ripening related to ethylene biosynthesis and glycolytic pathway stored in FSC had been conducted. However, the mechanism to delay browning process by TiO2 material has not been described. Experiments were also conducted mostly on a small storage scale (3-5 banana fingers). The effect of TiO2 to delay browning process have not been described, yet. Therefore, an experiment to test effectiveness of this technology on higher quantity products is needed to meet the industry requirement. This research aims to determine the application of TiO2 effectiveness in delaying ripening of higher banana quantity, the effect of TiO2 material on delaying browning, and the effect of the circulation system and light-source distribution improvement on the ripening process. The research is divided into two phases: (1) analysis of the effect of product quantity variation (6 & 24 fingers) stored in FSC equipped and not equipped with TiO2 plate, (2) Analysis of banana's quality which stored in different types of fruit storage chamber [FSC without TiO2 (FS), FSC equipped by TiO2 (FT), and Modular FSC (FM)]. Observations are conducted on the visual appearance, ethylene production rate, respiration rate, total soluble sugar, and the firmness of the samples. Analysis of browning on the samples was quantified by the browning indexes and MaPPO4 and MaPPO5 gene expression profile. The results showed that higher product quantity in FSC without TiO2 will accelerate the banana ripening rate caused by accumulation of ethylene produced. Applying the TiO2 plate to FSC can degrade the ethylene that accumulated in FSC. As a result, the ripening rate remains similar even when the product quantity is increased four times. Storing bananas on FSC equipped with TiO2 has shown a delay in the browning process based on visual observation and molecular analysis. The MaPPO4 and MaPPO5 gene expression level of FT & FM samples are lower than the control and FSC samples. Bananas stored in FSC Modular have better attributes than other treatments up to the seventh day of storage time. It indicates that improving the circulation system and the light-source distribution could improve the effect of the TiO2 photocatalytic reaction, and so the ripening and browning process were delayed for four days.