Maintaining postharvest quality and extending the shelf life of bananas through integrated LED light exposure and...

Given the importance of preserving and enhancing the quality of banana fruit during the postharvest period, this study examined the combined effects of LED light exposure (blue, red, green, and no light) and various packaging types (polyethylene, PVC, plastic films, and no packaging) on the chemical and physical properties of bananas stored at room temperature for seven days. Key parameters, including total phenolic content (TPC), flavonoids, antioxidant activity, titratable acidity, pH, Total Soluble Solids (TSS), and moisture, were measured at the end of the storage period. The results showed that blue LED light significantly increased total phenolic content by 1.78-fold (from 1.25 to 2.23 mg GAE/g FW) and antioxidant activity by 1.93-fold (from 38.7% to 74.7% DPPH inhibition) compared to the dark control. Among packaging types, PVC film yielded 1.53-fold higher phenolic content (1.97 vs. 1.29 mg GAE/g FW) and 1.37-fold greater flavonoid levels (1.10 vs. 0.80 mg QE/g FW) than unpackaged samples after 7 days. Two-way ANOVA confirmed that both light and packaging significantly affected key quality traits (p < 0.01), with a significant interaction effect for phenolic and flavonoid content (p < 0.05). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) further revealed that treatments involving blue light + PVC were distinctly separated from the control, with phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, and TSS serving as the primary drivers of quality differentiation (PC1 explained up to 97% of variance). These findings demonstrate that the integration of blue LED exposure with PVC packaging offers a practical, non-chemical strategy to maintain nutritional quality and extend the shelf life of banana fruit under ambient storage conditions.