Effect of packing treatments on green life and peel-split of banana cv. rasthali (AAB)

A study was conducted with Rasthali banana during 1996–97 to investigate the effect of certain postharvest treatments like harvesting at different maturity stages viz., 80%, 90% and 100%, air packing of fruits with ethylene absorbent, vacuum packing and newspaper wrapping. It was found that the green life and physiological loss in weight (PLW) decreased with progressive levels of harvest maturity. Storage life similar to that obtained with refrigeration can be achieved at ambient temperature by packing bananas in evacuated bags (vacuum packing). Air packing of fruit dipped in GA₃ 150 ppm further enhanced the green life than air pack alone. The vacuum packed and air packed fruits showed drastic reduction in PLW during storage compared with control. The organoleptic quality of vacuum packed and air packed fruits were good until 30 days for storage under room temperature beyond which, the quality deteriorated due to carbon-di-oxide injury and crown-rot. Rasthali (Silk) is a sensitive fruit that cannot toLerate CO₂ levels above 7%. Hence, vacuum packing is recommended which will maintain the CO₂ levels below 7% thereby prolonging the green life.