Action of 1-Methylcyclopropene on Postharvest Conservation of Banana ‘Prata-Anã’ Gorutuba Clone

The banana is a highly perishable fruit in which storage and transport for a long period is limited due to the lack of post-harvest technologies that aim to retard fruit ripening. In this regard, the objective of this study was to evaluate the postharvest conservation period of the ‘Prata-Anã’ clone Gorutuba banana using different concentrations of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), associated with the modified atmosphere and refrigerated storage. Banana bunches (Musa spp. AAB) ‘Prata-Anã’ Gorutuba clone were obtained from Belém farm, located in Janaúba-MG. The pieces were decomposed in bouquets of 4 fruits and submitted to 1-MCP application at concentrations of 0.0; 0.2; 0.4; 0.6; 0.8 and 1.0 ppm for 24 hours and stored refrigerated at room temperature to 13±1 °C. Every 5 days physical and chemical evaluations were performed. There was a delay in the ripening of fruits subjected to refrigeration and treated with 0.6 ppm of 1-MCP and increase in shelf life, due to probable inhibition of ethylene, which showed firmer fruits. Respiratory activity decreased with increasing concentration of 1-MCP. In refrigerated storage, fruits treated with 1-MCP were kept longer than 30 days. For the fruits kept at room temperature shelf life was 21 days for fruit subjected to concentrations of 0.4 to 1.0 ppm. However, the use of 1-MCP associated with the modified atmosphere under refrigeration directly influenced the postharvest conservation of bananas, allowing a longer period of commercialization.