Effect of Basil (Ocimum sanctum) Leaf Coating on Ripening Duration and Shelf Life of Banana cv. Jahaji

Fruits and vegetables are an integral part of human diet and act as the major source of carbohydrates, vitamins, dietary fibre, minerals, antioxidants, proteins, fat and phytochemicals. Handling operations during harvesting and packing of fruits, causes breaks on the skin and loss of cuticle thus predisposing the fruits to quick deterioration due to high water loss, high respiration, and pathological attack (Maguire et al, 2001), (Zheng et al, 2012). In order to preserve fruits for longer periods of time it is important to extend their shelf life and preserve postharvest quality through various postharvest technologies such as Controlled Atmosphere Storage (CAS), modified atmosphere packaging, evaporative cooling, chemical waxing and cold storage have been found to be effective. However, some of these postharvest technologies produced some negative effects on fruits including environmental pollution, economically less viable, residual effect and limited accessibility by small farmers especially those in developing countries. Therefore to overcome such challenges research on alternative postharvest technologies which would be affordable, accessible, eco-friendly and easy to use must be developed to obtain sustainability in storage of fruits. Banana (Musa spp.) belongs to the family Musaceae is one of the oldest fruits known to mankind. It is also known as Apple of Paradise and one of the most important sources of tropical fruits in the world as it is a significant staple food as well as a major export commodity (Rahman et al., 2013). Banana is one of the important tropical and sub-tropical fruit crop providing good income to the growers as well as its taste and high nutritional value keep it in high demand throughout the year. Being a climacteric fruit, where the level of ethylene present in ripe fruits is more than sufficient for inducing major ripening processes such as softening and colour changes, thus banana is harvested in unripe stage. Fruits like avocado, banana, mango, pear and tomato produce 500, 40, 3, 40, 35 µg/l (µg l) ethylene at the climacteric peak (Belitz et al., 2009) while the threshold level of ethylene for fruits like avocado, banana, mango, tomato ranges from 0.1 to 0.5 ppm.

Coating of plant leaf/flower extract forms a thin film around each fruit, which act as a semi-permeable membrane to regulate the diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide into and out of the fruit, thereby reducing the rate of metabolism and also preventing water loss (Umesh et al., 2017). Edible coatings obtained from natural sources have great potential for enhancing food quality and safety as well as effecting shelf life and ripening days. Therefore in the recent times of increasing preference for organic options, there have been growth in the use of degradable coatings in fruits for improving the shelf life of fruits and also for understanding its effect on ripening duration. Post-harvest application of botanicals such as Azadirachta, Ocimum, Aloe, Tagetes, Mentha, Gingiber, Curcuma, and Eucalyptus are known to contain higher amounts of some principle natural substances exhibiting growth regulating, fungicidal, insecticidal properties can be exploited for retaining freshness and enhancing the shelf life of horticultural crops (Tanuja et al, 2021). Successful marketing of edible cultivated bananas requires control over the ripening process to ensure predictable ripening and good quality ripe fruits along with increased shelf life.