Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Lourenço, Ruth Evelyn R. S.
• Linhares, Amanda A. N.
• de Oliveira, André Vicente
• da Silva, Marcelo Gomes
• de Oliveira, Jurandi Gonçalves
• Canela, Maria Cristina

Titel

Photodegradation of ethylene by use of TiO2 sol-gel on polypropylene and on glass for application in the postharvest of papaya fruit

Ist Teil von

• Environmental science and pollution research international, 2017-03, Vol.24 (7), p.6047-6054

Ort / Verlag

Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Erscheinungsjahr

2017

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

SpringerLink

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The papaya is a commercially important fruit commodity worldwide. Being a climacteric fruit, it is highly perishable. Thus, for the transportation of papaya fruit for long distances without loss of quality, it is necessary to avoid the autocatalytic effect of ethylene in accelerating the ripening of the fruit. This work addresses the application of heterogeneous photocatalysis to the degradation of ethylene. A TiO 2 sol-gel supported on polypropylene (PP) and on glass was used as the catalytic material, and a UV-A lamp was employed as the radiation source. Initially, a concentration of 500 ppbv ethylene was exposed to the catalyst material irradiated by UV-A radiation. A sensitive photoacoustic spectrometer was used to monitor the photocatalytic activity. The TiO 2 sol-gel supported on the glass substrate was more efficient than on the PP in degrading the ethylene. Under direct UV-A exposure, the skin appearance of ‘Golden’ papaya was damaged, depreciating the fruit quality and thus preventing its commercialization. However, the feasibility of the heterogeneous photocatalysis to preserve the fruit quality was achieved when ethylene was removed from the storage ambient using fans, and then, this plant hormone was degraded by a reactor set apart in a ventilation closed system.