Hot & wet treatment for longer-lasting fruits

Do you know that fruits would look better, last longer and be more delicious if you get them hot and wet first?

This was discovered in a new technological innovation developed by local agricultural scientists, involved in fruit processing and post-harvest technology aimed mainly at getting rid of banana and mango ripening disorders and diseases.

The innovative technique called "hot water dip" (HWD) was developed by Antonio Acedo Jr., Marilou Benitez and Ma. Cherry Abit of the Leyte State University, who were working on the technology to improve fruit quality and shelf life.

They claim their HWD technique can control ripening and diseases in "latundan" and "saba" varieties of banana as well as the "carabao mango," thus providing fruit growers a method that could sharply cut their post-harvest losses.

For the banana varieties, the technique basically requires dipping the bananas for 10 minutes in hot water with temperatures at 47 to 49 degrees Celsius. The same method is applied to carabao mango, except that the temperature is set higher at 51 to 53 degrees Celsius.

Essentially, the technological innovation tried to address the dilemma of extremes faced by fruit growers and exporters. On one hand, the study found out that banana and mango stored at 35 to 38 degrees Celsius for three to six days would ripen faster and are more prone to diseases.

On the other extreme, if the same type of fruits are subjected to chill treatment at 8 to 10 degrees Celsius for 8-10 days, the results would be fruit surface discoloration and abnormal ripening.

But with HWD treatment, incidence of diseases is sharply reduced, while the technique had no appreciable effects on the ripening of fruits undergoing hyperthermal exposure for five to six days, the study added.

The scientists said the method could even improve fruit conditions even under chilling or hyper-thermal condition. Only in extreme cases do the fruits turn soft and green due to prolonged non-refrigerated handling and when subjected to high temperature during transit.

"Ripening and diseases in the two fruits were significantly inhibited using the HWD," the study, which was funded by the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), said.

"Chilling injury was also minimized by HWD, comparable to that effected by modified atmosphere packaging using polyethylene film," the study added.

Millions of pesos worth of fruits go to waste yearly owing to mishandling while in transit to markets up to the time they are finally bought by consumers.

Due to the great potentials of HWD as a post-harvest treatment, the Department of Agriculture has recognized the LSU scientists for their contribution to post-harvest loss reduction.

At a national research symposium last November, the department granted them "The AFMA Best Research and Development Paper Award" in the agricultural engineering, processing and post-harvest category plus a cash prize of P10,000. – PAJ News and Features