An integrated approach with hot water treatment and salt in the control of crown rot disease and preservation of quality in banana

Abstract

An integrated approach using hot water treatment (HWT) and salt in the control of crown rot disease and preservation of quality in banana was investigated. The efficacy of HWT and either sodium carbonate (SC), sodium bicarbonate (SBC) or sodium hypochlorite (SH) applied alone or in combinations was evaluated against cultures of Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Thielaviopsis paradoxa, Colletotrichum musae and Fusarium verticillioides. The in vitro efficacy of salt was enhanced by 36.85–62.05% following HWT. Postharvest application, involving fruit dipped for 30 min in 1% (w/v) SC following HWT (50°C, 20 min), and storage for 14 d at 22–25ºC and 90–95% relative humidity, maintained the overall quality of bananas and reduced the incidence of crown rot by 87.99%, which was comparable with that of treatment with fungicide at 89.60%. Other treatment combinations were capable of reducing crown rot to a lesser extent such as 80.64% by HWT + SH and 77.59% by HWT + SBC. Individual treatments were significantly lower at 70.07% for SH, 64.32% for SC, and 59.67% for SBC. HWT alone showed the lowest efficacy in controlling fruit decay at 52.15%.