The
results
showed that a combination of 50 mL L
1
ethephon with 400 nL L
1
1-MCP (16 h) was the most
suitable
treatment, which significantly delayed the ripening and maintained the commodity value of
harvested
banana fruit without detrimentally affecting normal ripening after ripening acceleration
treatment.
This treatment effectively delayed and decreased respiration rate and ethylene production,
inhibited
the activity of pectin lyase (PL), pectin methylesterase (PME), cellulase (CX) and
polygalacturonase
(PG), and delayed the peak activity of ACC synthase (ACS) and ACC oxidase (ACO).
It
also delayed the formation of volatile compounds, but did not detrimentally affect the amount of
volatiles,
especially the esters. The combined treatment significantly delayed the ripening and prolonged
the
shelf life of banana fruit with normal coloring and volatile development, which effectively
maintained
the commercial value of banana fruit.