Effect of ethylene on postharvest quality of green beans

Abstract

Green beans were stored at 0,5 and 20°C in air containing ethylene at concentrations in the range 0.005-10 µL/L. The quality of individual beans was scored at regular intervals and the time for each treatment unit to deteriorate to an unacceptable quality score was calculated. Reducing the ethylene concentration in the atmosphere was found to significantly extend the storage life at all temperatures. The maximum storage life achieved at an ethylene concentration of 0.005 µL/L was 29, 20 and 11 days at 0, 5 and 20°C, respectively. For each temperature, this was about twice the storage life of beans held in 0.1-1.0 µL/L ethylene. The amount of ethylene in the atmosphere around beans held in commercial markets was found to range from 0.17 to 1.17 µL/L suggesting that the useful marketing period of beans could be greatly extended by better control over ethylene accumulation.