The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of 1‐methylcyclopropene (1‐MCP) combined with salicylic acid (SA) on the postharvest physiology and quality of bananas. Respiration rate, ethylene production, firmness, decay incidence, soluble sugar, soluble solid, color change, malondialdehyde (MDA), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities of bananas were examined. The results showed that 1‐MCP combined with SA treatment inhibited respiration rate, ethylene production, decay incidence, MDA content, soluble sugar, and soluble solids content. The combined treatment also delayed softness and color change of bananas compared to the untreated bananas. The efficiency of the combined treatment was better than that of 1‐MCP or SA alone. Furthermore, combination of 1‐MCP plus SA effectively enhanced SOD and CAT activities, and inhibited the increasing of POD activity in bananas. Therefore, our results suggested that 1‐MCP plus SA treatment may be an effective technology in extending the shelf life of bananas.
Practical applications
So far, there have been no reports on the influence of 1‐MCP combined with SA treatment on the postharvest physiology and quality of bananas during storage. The objective of this work is to investigate the efficiency of 1‐MCP plus SA treatment for improving postharvest physiological and quality and extending storage life, which provides theoretical guidance for the preservation of stored bananas.