Fabrication of Banana Stem Fibre Reinforced Composite Packaging Material with Essential Oils to Control Postharvest Diseases in Two Banana MUSA SPP Cultivars

Abstract

Banana fruits are mostly cultivated in tropical countries and exported worldwide. They are highly nutritious fruits that are rich in potassium, vitamin B6 and minerals. Since they are climacteric fruits, postharvest spoilage occurs due to the fungal attack and leads to economic loss to the farmers. The fruits decay due to fungal rot in the supply chain before reaching the consumers. To address this issue, the present study was aimed to control the major postharvest fungal diseases of the fruits by essential oil treatment in vapour-phase and packaging in bio-nanocomposite films to extend the shelf-life of the fruits. The major postharvest diseases are anthracnose (caused by Colletotrichum musae), and crown-rot (caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae) newline