Prolonging banana shelf life through visible light-induced ethylene scavenging using manganese-decorated TiO2 via KMnO4 reduction
Fairuz Gianirfan Nugroho, Putri Adiela Agson-Gani, Putri Ardhya Anindita, Fry Voni Steky, Didi Prasetyo Benu, Brian Yuliarto, Fenny Martha Dwivany, Veinardi Suendo
Abstract
Apart from being a good source of nutrition , bananas are also an essential worldwide commodity. However, bananas exhibit fast ripening and low shelf life, especially after artificial ripening. TiO 2 can act as an ethylene scavenger through photocatalytic degradation of ethylene. In this work, Mn-decorated TiO 2 was synthesized through MnO 4 - reduction on the surface of P25 TiO 2 . The aim is to prolong the shelf life of artificially ripened bananas. Based on characterization results, we found that Mn decoration increased absorption of visible light, with the interaction between TiO 2 and Mn predicted to be a type I heterojunction . The photocatalytic activity was tested by ethylene photodegradation . It was found that TiO 2 /Mn was able to partially oxidize ethylene to formic acid under visible light. Furthermore, bananas stored in a fruit storage chamber with TiO 2 /Mn showed a 2-day delay in color change. This confirms that TiO 2 /Mn can be used as an ethylene scavenger.