LAB TITLE :

Effect of different ripening treatments on ripening quality of banana fruit

INTRODUCTION: Fruit ripening is a development controlled process that is regulated by plant hormones. Ripening is a process in fruits that causes them to become more edible. In general, a fruit becomes sweeter, less green, and softer as it ripens. Fruits are considered mature when they have stopped growing and once they have acquired the capacity to ripen. Indicators of maturity can be chronological, physical (e.g., a change in color or a decrease in fruit firmness), or chemical (e.g., a reduction in the amount of starch or acidity, or a gain soluble solids).Fruits can be categorized as climacteric and non-climacteric. Climacteric fruit is bananas, pears, and tomatoes while non-climacteric such as strawberries and oranges depending on whether or not they have a respiratory peak during their ripening process. The reason for a respiratory climacteric is still poorly understood. One hypothesis is that respiration is required for repair processes to avoid loss of mitochondrial function and uncoupling In storing the fruits, we should know how to keep them in good condition in order to maintain the quality and grade level. People have long been aware that overripe and rotting fruit could accelerate ripening of nearby fruit in the closed storage compartment during shipment. Accelerated fruit ripening during storage and shipment is due to the release of ethylene gas hormone by these fruits. As we know, ethylene is been used by the farmer or trader to keep the fruit ripening and quick harvesting period. So, they can pick the green and fresh fruit such as banana and mango before shipping. In the ship, they will apply ethylene gas to ensure ripening before reaching the supermarket counter. The picking of unripe fruit and artificial ripening later is not uncommon. In parts of Asia, a plastic cover is placed over unripe harvested mangoes. Calcium carbide is placed in open containers in strategic positions inside the bag. Moisture from the air converts the calcium carbide into acetylene which has the same fruit-ripening effect as ethylene. However, industrial-grade calcium carbide is sometimes contaminated with trace arsenic and phosphorous. The use of calcium carbide to stimulate fruit ripening is illegal in most countries. In other case, the degree of fruit ripening is caused by several factors such as low temperature and high ambient CO2 concentration in order to suppress respiration and continuous exchange of air to prevent ethylene gas build up. For example, Heidi mango fruits were harvested at the conventional stage and at an advanced stage of maturation from an orchard in South Africa. Following commercial pack line treatment, fruits were stored at 12.5C either under controlled atmosphere storage (low or high concentrations of CO2) or under normal atmosphere storage. After 21 days, fruits were allowed to

ripen at 20 under normal atmosphere. Quality was assessed on ripening. Fruits harvested at an advanced stage of maturation did not appear to benefit from CA storage. Pulp browning in these fruits was elevated. In fruits harvested at the conventional stage of maturation, CA storage reduced surface scald, pulp browning and internal breakdown, and enhanced shelf life and taste. The semi-commercial adoption of CA storage in Heidi mango is recommended for the coming season due to the competitive banana market, optimizing artificial banana ripening techniques has become a fundamental concern for the entire industry. The aim of this study is to determine the best ripening treatments on ripening quality characteristics of banana to give greater overall control over the shelf life of the fruit without diminishing its quality.

MATERIALS AND METHOD: Plant materials Banana was selected based on their uniformity of shape and colour, free of defects, bruises and damages. 18 bananas that were chosen, were cleaned and treated with 300 mg/L benomyl (dip for 5 minutes) and air dried the fruits. The initial weight of banana fruits were recorded. Treatment Banana fruits were treated with each of following treatments (Each of one treatment have 3 replication): PE bag with holes PE bag (MAP) PE bag + 10 % KOH PE bag + calcium carbide PE bag + 1000 L/L ethylene PE bag contain 10% KOH and 10% KMnO4 (separately) The fruits were placed in the room temperature (27 3c) for 7 days. Then the quality characteristics of the fruits were evaluated Physical quality characteristics 1. Fresh weight and final weight (kg) Fresh weight and final weight after ripening were recorded to know the weight loss of the banana fruit. The weight loss, on removal from a ripening temperature, was calculated as a percentage of initial weight. 2. Colour (L*, C* and h)

Colour of banana peel was ascertained by Minolta Chroma Meter to get the value of lightness (L*), Chroma (C*) and hue (h) of banana fruits. 3. Firmness (N) The bananas were cut off into 1 inch and the firmness were measured by using Instron. The readings were taken on the pulp of the fruits.

Chemical quality characteristics 1. Soluble solids concentration (% brix) 20 grams of pulp were blended with 80 ml of water using home blender. A drop or two of the portion were drip on the refractometer and the readings were taken. 2. pH The pH of the previous portion were measured using pH meter. 3. Titratable acidity (%) 5 mL of previous portion were drip with 1 or 2 drops of phenolftalein and titrate with 0.1 N NaOH. The readings then were calculated using formula: Titre x 0.1 x vol. Made up (50 ml) x 64g (Equivalent wt. of Citric acid) x 100 Sample weight (10g) x vol. Sample for titration (5 ml) x 1000 4. Ascorbic acids Weight 10 g sample and blend with 40 ml of HPO3 (metaphosphoric acid) and filter. Add HPO3 in the filtrate to a volume of 50 ml. Take 5 ml of filtrate and titrate the dye until pink. Record the volume of dye (titrate) used. Calculation of Vitamin C (mg/100 g): Titre x Dye Factor (0.125) x vol. Made up (50 ml) x 100 Sample (10 g) x vol. Sample for titration (5 ml)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In this experiment, we are using bananas to determine the best ripening treatments on ripening quality characteristics of banana to give greater overall control over the shelf life of the fruit without diminishing its quality. At first, each fruit is weighed to determined initial mass by using analytical balance. Then there are placed in some treatment or ripening agent by using PE bags, KOH, KOH and KMnO4 and Calcium carbide. This treatment will measure the rate of ripening in different condition in Modified Atmosphere Packaging. There were no significant differences in fresh weight, final weight and hue angle of banana peel colour (Table 1). However, there was a significant difference in weight loss between banana treated with 10% KOH and 10% KMnO4 in PE bag and banana treated with ethylene, MAP condition and banana in PE bag with holes (Table 1). Banana treated with 10% KOH and 10% KMnO4 in PE bag might be loss a lot of water during transpiration and respiration during the analysis. Analysis on firmness, there was significant differences between all treatments on banana (Table 1). This shown that, banana treated with 10% KOH in PE bags is the most firm than the rest, and banana treated with 10% KOH and 10% KMnO4 in PE bag is less firm than the rest treated banana. On peel colour of banana, banana treated with calcium carbide, ethylene and control were shown significant different with banana treated with 10% KOH and 10% KMnO4 in PE bag (Table 1). However, there were no significant differences between banana treated with calcium carbide, ethylene and control with banana in MAP condition and banana treated with 10% KOH (Table 1). There were no significant between control with banana in MAP condition, banana treated with KOH, calcium carbide and ethylene (Table 1). However, there was a significant difference between control and banana treated with 10% KOH and 10% KMnO4 in PE bag (Table 1). TABLE 1 Effect of different ripening treatments on physical quality characteristics of ripen banana Treatment Fresh Final Weight Firmness Peel colour weight (g) weight (g) loss (%) (N) Lightness Chrome Hue (h) (L*) (C*) PE bag with 78.983 a 75.620 a 4.310 b 3.2767 ab 67.363 a 35.233 a 84.910 a holes PE bag (MAP) 78.247 a 75.477 a 3.534 b 2.4567 c 60.487 bc 33.003 ab 82.823 a PE bag + 10 79.893 a 74.863 a 6.343 ab 3.5667 a 63.793 ab 32.817 ab 83.810 a % KOH PE bag + 78.360 a 74.130 a 5.427 ab 2.8733 bc 67.447 a 32.557 ab 85.987 a calcium carbide PE bag + 79.293 a 75.373 a 4.970 b 2.3767 c 65.357 a 33.820 ab 80.680 a 1000 L/L

ethylene PE bag + 10% 78.280 a 70.757 a 9.649 a 1.4933 d 58.447 c 29.813 b 80.897 a KOH + 10% KMnO4 Z Means followed by the same letter within columns are not significantly different using LSD at P 0.05. On chemical characteristics of ripen banana, there was significant differences between control with banana treated in MAP condition, KOH, calcium carbide, ethylene and also banana treated with 10% KOH and 10% KMnO4 in PE bag (Table 2) on SSC% parameter. This shown that SSC% in control condition which is banana was in PE bag with holes is higher than the rest of treatments of banana. PE bag with holes around should be less efficient compared to the sealed PE bag. It is because the holes allow ethylene gas release out the bag while sealed PE bag will clump the air and increasing the rate of fruit ripening inside the bag. However in this experiment, PE bags with holes have higher %SSC in banana than any other treatments of banana (Table 2). In pH parameter, there were significant different between control and banana treated with KOH, ethylene and banana treated with 10% KOH and 10% KMnO4 in PE bag (Table 2). On the other hand, there were significant differences among treatments of banana in titratable acidity (Table 2), where banana treated with 10% KOH and 10% KMnO4 in PE bag is higher in titratable acidity content and banana treated with KOH and Calcium carbide is lower in titratable acidity. However, there were no significant differences in ascorbic acids among treatments of banana. TABLE 2 Effect of different ripening treatment on chemical quality characteristics of ripen banana. Temperature (c) SSC (%) pH Titratable acidity Ascorbic acids PE bag with holes 14.1333 a 3.45000 c 2.66667 b 21.333 a PE bag (MAP) 5.3333 b 3.69333 ab 2.56000 b 29.333 a PE bag + 10 % KOH 4.5333 b 3.87000 a 2.43200 c 24.000 a PE bag + calcium 6.1333 b 3.52667 bc 2.60267 b 26.667 a carbide PE bag + 1000 L/L 5.6000 b 3.81000 a 2.43200 c 21.333 a ethylene PE bag + 10% KOH 4.4000 b 3.83667 a 2.88000 a 18.667 a + 10% KMnO4 Z Means followed by the same letter within columns are not significantly different using LSD at P 0.05. Calcium carbide is used for ripening the fruit artificially in some countries. Industrial-grade calcium carbide may contain traces of arsenic and phosphorus and thus use of this chemical for this purpose is illegal in most countries. Calcium carbide once dissolved in water produces acetylene which is

the essential gas for ripening process. The moisture in the air reacted with the calcium carbide to release the gas acetylene, which apparently has the same effect as ethylene gas. The effect of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) on the ripening process of papaya fruits and other fruit samples by monitoring the ethylene emission rates is reported. The ethylene emission was monitored by a photoacoustic spectrometer. The use of the ethylene absorber reduces the autocatalytic process of ethylene during papaya fruit ripening. For 20 g of KMnO4 the maximal intensity of the ethylene emission decreases by a factor two. Using the same amount of KMnO4, a reduction of about 2.2% in the concentration of ethylene for a mixture of 1ppmv of ethylene in synthetic air was observed. KOH also plays similar roles like KMnO4. The combination of these both ripening agent will make rapid ripening to the fruit samples.

CONCLUSION Banana is the most common fruit used in trading materials. When bananas are ripening, they release carbon dioxide which will build up in a ripening room. The CO2 production begins as the fruit ripens enters the climacteric phase, or the period when bananas release ethylene and have an elevated rate of respiration (along with a great deal of other physiological changes). Respiration involves the uptake of oxygen, the release of carbon dioxide, and the breakdown of starches. Carbon dioxide concentrations above 1% (10,000 ppm) will retard ripening, delay the effects of ethylene and cause quality problems. Therefore, it is recommended to vent rooms by opening the doors for 20 minutes every 12 hours, after the first 24 hours of ripening. Other venting methods are by automatic fan (either timed or sensor-based) or "flow-though" (constant) ventilation. Finally, when fruits undergo ripening process, they will change in colour and weight. Colour will turn from the light or dark green to the more attractive colour like yellow, orange or reddish. For example, banana will turn to the light yellow when getting ripe. Weight for each sample also become decrease due to denatures of linkage in fruit tissue make in lighter than younger fruit. Then, we use digital refractometer in order to measure the sugar content of fruits ( % Brix) . However, in this experiment, the result is not as we expected. It might be because of the analysis is carried out in ambient temperature and the period of experiment takes a long process. Futher studies should be carried out in the future.

REFERENCES 1) http://www.catalyticgenerators.com/tomriptip.html 2) http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryexperiments/ss/ethyleneexp_4.htm 3) http://jp4.journaldephysique.org/index.php?option=article&access=standard&Itemid=129&url=/articles /jp4/pdf/2005/03/jp4125201.pdf 4) http://hort.oregonstate.edu/stotzhe/pdf/FRUIT%20RIPENING.pdf