3.3. Effect on quality of banana fruits
The results showed that fruits in the untreated control turned
yellow more rapidly than the rest of the treatments (Table 4). The
result obtained in the control is in agreement with a previous
report (Abd-Elsalam et al., 2010) that infection by C. musae
appeared to cause early ripening of banana fruit. Dipping in 20%
D. abyssinicaat room temperature delayed ripening of bananas by
up to 18.3 days which was statistically similar with treatments of
20%A. albidaandP. julifloraat the same temperature regime. In
most of the treatments, dipping in warm extracts appeared to
enhance ripening than at room temperature. In a related work,
Aborisade and Akomolafe (2007)found that hot carbendazimtreated banana fruits ripened more rapidly than those treated
with carbendazim alone. This could be due to heat activated
enzyme systems and increased expression of genes like ACO1
(aconitate hydratase) enhancing ripening (Zhua et al., 2011).
Data on fruit ripening showed that extracts ofA. mexicana
significantly enhanced ripening of banana fruit compared to other
plant extracts at all dipping temperatures (Table 4). The effect of
plant extracts on banana ripening has been reported earlier (Acedo
and Bautista, 1994); rain tree (Albizia saman) and gliricidia (Glircidia
sepium) leaves effectively enhanced ripening of banana.
In the present study, the firmest peel was recorded on fruits
dipped in heated extracts (at 50
C) of all plant species, while the
lowest value of firmness was recorded on control fruits at room
temperature and at 45
C(Table 4). Fruits dipped in extracts of
P. juliflora (10%) and D. abyssinica (10%) both at ambien