Exploring the impact of aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) on the ripening behaviour and quality of bananas under different storage conditions

Bananas rapidly undergo physiological deterioration after harvest owing to their climacteric and perishable nature causing significant economic yield loss. Thus, the adoption of postharvest loss mitigation strategies becomes imperative for enhancing fruit longevity. This study aimed to assess the effect of postharvest treatment with different concentrations of aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) on shelf life extension and quality sustainability of bananas, such as Grand Naine, Poovan and Ney Poovan, kept under ambient (27 degrees C +/- 2 degrees C) and cool (17 degrees C) conditions. The findings revealed that AVG-treated bananas reduced weight loss of banana hands (0.655-2.559 kg hand-1) and higher peel thickness (0.86-2.73 mm) and firmness (6.54-12.01 N) over untreated control at ambient storage condition, whereas under cool storage, weight loss of banana hands reduced from 0.761 to 2.579 kg hand-1, while both peel thickness (1.24-2.84 mm) and firmness (7.75-11.45 N) were retained for varieties. The physio-chemical traits of fruit, such as total chlorophyll and starch content, were improved due to AVG treatment under both storage conditions. Among the treatments, postharvest application of AVG at 700 ppm showed better performance in the morphological, physiological and quality characters irrespective of the varieties.