The present investigation was undertaken to assess the post-harvest losses and value addition to banana through processing as followed in Gujarat. The effect of various ripening methods on losses was also determined. The study revealed that the overall post-harvest loss in banana after harvesting till ripening was found to be 15.43%, which included losses at field level (0.77%), at traders’ level comprising of transportation and handling losses (5.86%) as well as ripening losses (8.80%). Only negligible losses were observed and reported during the processing of banana. The highest value of actual total loss (16.00%) was observed in case of smoking + room temperature method of ripening, while the lowest loss of 4.66% was observed under the ethephon + air-cooled chamber method. Although, the ethephon + ice treatment method gave ripening loss to the tune of 7.43%, this method was most widely adopted in Gujarat considering its convenience and good appearance of bananas after ripening. The results have emphasized that efforts should be made to adopt improved packaging techniques, cushioning material and refrigeration facilities at the traders’ level during transportation of banana to long distances. It is also recommended from the study that the improved ripening methods like ripening under ethephon + air cooled chamber method should be used during ripening to obtain the good quality banana with the lowest value of losses.
Banana, Post-harvest loss, value addition
