Banana is one of the most important food crops after rice, wheat and corn around the world. It is susceptible to a wide spectrum of non-infectious problems such as abiotic stresses resulting in restricting growth and production. Studies were conducted to determine the effects of four salinity levels (0.17 (control), 3.0, 6.0, and 9.0 dS m-1) on morphological characteristics of four banana cultivars at vegetative growth stage. Banana cultivars from the Cavendish group (Williams, Malindi) and plantains group (FHIA18 and Diwan) were grown in 61 x 76 cm polyethylene bags filled with soil mixture comprising of top soil, sand and peat moss (3:1:2 v/v), with pH ranging from 6 - 6.5 and EC 0.02 mScm-1. The experiment was carried out under a rain-shelter in split-plot design with three replicates. Plants were irrigated manually. Data were collected at 3, 6 and 9 months after transplanting. The results revealed that, the number of leaves, stem height, stem girth and total leaf area were significantly affected by salinity, variety and plant age. Significant interaction was also found between salinity and variety, salinity and plant age, as well as variety and plant age. The morphological characteristics of banana were negatively affected by higher salinity levels (6.0 and 9.0 dS m-1). Under similar salinity level, cultivar Malindi had higher number of leaves, stem height, stem girth and total leaf area as compared to cultivar Williams. Among plantains banana, cultivar FHIA18 was more tolerance to high salinity levels than Diwan cultivar, while Malindi from Cavendish group shows high salt tolerant than Williams. Therefore cultivars Malindi and FHIA18 could be grown in arid and semiarid environment depend on their tolerance to high salinity level above 1.0 dS m-1.
Poor postharvest handling, microbial infestation, and high respiration rate are some the factors are responsible for poor storage life of perishable commodities. Therefore, effective preservation of these commodities is needed to lower the damages and extend shelf life. Preservation is regarded as the action taken to maintain desired properties of a perishable commodity as long as possible. Persimmon (Diospyros kaki) is perishable fruit with high nutritive value; however, has very short shelf-life. Therefore, effective preservation and drying is needed to extend its storage life. Drying temperature and preservatives significantly influence the quality of perishable vegetables and fruits during drying. The current study investigated the effect of different temperatures and preservatives on drying kinetics and organoleptic quality attributes of persimmon. Persimmon fruits were treated with preservatives (25% honey, 25% aloe vera, 2% sodium benzoate, 1% potassium metabisulfite, and 2% citric acid solutions) under different drying temperatures (40, 45, and 50°C). All observed parameters were significantly affected by individual effects of temperatures and preservatives, except ash contents. Similarly, interactive effects were significant for all parameters except total soluble sugars, ash contents, and vitamin C. Generally, fruits treated with citric acid and dried under 50°C had 8.2% moisture loss hour-1, 14.9 drying hours, 0.030 g H2O g-1 hr-1, 1.23° Brix of total soluble solids, 6.71 pH, 1.35% acidity, and 6.3 mg vitamin C. These values were better than the rest of the preservatives and drying temperatures used in the study. Therefore, treating fruits with citric acid and drying at 50°C was found a promising technique to extend storage life of persimmon fruits. It is recommended that persimmon fruits dried at 50°C and preserved in citric acid can be used for longer storage period.