Indigenous ripening methods for banana cv. Amritsagar

The experiment was conducted with a aim to study the effect of indigenous ripening method on banana fruit quality and shelf life. The ripening methods viz. ripening in covered pit with smoke; ripening with ripe tomato fruit; ripening with paddy straw; ripening in covered pit without smoke; ripening with calcium carbide and ripening naturally at room temperature. The result revealed that among the methods used for ripening, fruit ripened with ripe tomato retained maximum TSS (21.75%), reducing sugar (5.12%), total sugar (6.15%), moisture content (73.85%), calcium (17.38 mg/100g),magnesium (58.47 mg/100g) and potassium (427, 28mg/100g). In case of fruit ripened with calcium carbide recorded highest acidity (0.34%) and phosphorus (74.81mg/100g) whereas ascorbic acid was maximum in fruit ripened with paddy straw. Similarly, maximum shelf life was obtained in control (10.67days) with longest ripening period of 12 days, whereas calcium carbide treated fruit had shortest (2days) ripening period. The preferential score in terms of flavor and taste was highest in banana fruit ripened with tomato while maximum score for colour was obtained in calcium carbide ripened fruit.