REDUCTION OF CHILLING INJURY IN STORED BANANA FRUITS BY JASMONIC ACID DERIVATIVE AND ABSCISIC ACID TREATMENT

Applications of n-propyl dihydrojasmonate (PDJ) and abscisic acid (ABA) were carried out aiming to reduce chilling injury in banana fruits at chilling temperature. In the first experiment, banana fruits were treated with PDJ by either spraying or by infiltration at 82.7 kPa for 3 min, with 0.5 or 1.0 mM concentration, prior to storage at 5 °C for 0-4 weeks. When sprayed with 1.0 mM, the highest rate of reduction in chilling injury was found after cold storage at 5 °C for 1 week and subsequent transfer to 20 °C for ripening. Compared with other treatments, these treated fruits increased C₂H₄ evolution and CO₂ production, while membrane permeability and chilling injury index were lowered. Endogenous ABA in the peel of 1.0 mM sprayed fruits was higher than other treatments and approximately two times that of untreated fruits. In a second experiment, ABA spraying resulted in a decrease of chilling injury in comparison with the other applications, with 0.5 and 1.0 mM after storage at 5 °C for 1 week and subsequent transfer to 20 °C for ripening, as in the first experiment.