EFFECT OF SMOKING AS POST-HARVEST TREATMENT ON THE RIPENING AND QUALITY OF BANANA (MUSA SP)

The application of smoke is a traditional practice to trigger the ripening process of banana. This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different post-harvest treatment on the physiochemical properties of banana fruits. This experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications, which constituted the seven treatments viz. control, low density polyethylene bag, as well as 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 hours exposed to smoke. The results indicated that smoke treatment increased physiological weight loss and pulp weight during storage whereas decreased firmness, peel weight and dry matter content. Chemical parameters such as moisture, total soluble solid, and total sugar showed an increasing trend during the storage period, whereas acidity and vitamin C increased initially up to 5 days and declined thereafter during the ripening of the banana. Smoking for 18 hours resulted in uniform ripening with yellow coloration within 5 days, whereas untreated control fruits remained green for 5 days and ripened within 8 days after storage. The present study concludes that smoke treatment is a simple but quick means of banana ripening. Exposer of banana fruits to smoke for 18 hours produced better quality and improved the shelf life.