Influence of Different ‘Prata-Anã’ Banana Bunch Ages on Post-Harvest Quality

Objective: To determine the ideal harvest season of ‘Prata-Anã’ banana bunches by means of physical and chemical analyses of fruit cultivation conditions in the northern state of Minas Gerais.

Study Design: The employed experimental design was the completely randomized design was used in a 5x5 factorial scheme, with five bunch ages and five assessment days.

Study Location and Duration: The experiment was run in an area with banana trees planted 20 months beforehand, located at Unimontes’s Experimental Farm, at 530 m of altitude, with coordinates being -15°43’46.99” south latitude and -43°19’17.61”west longitude, between April and November 2017.

Methodology: The bananas bunches the were marked weekly from April 14 to May 12, and week days were standardized for each marking. Five bunch ages were defined – 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 weeks after inflorescence emission – for harvest. For differentiation of emerged bunches, tapes of different color were used. When the bunches marked in the first week completed 20 weeks, all bunches were harvested, which happened on September 1. After harvested the fruits were subjected to storage in refrigerated chamber at 10°C ± 1°C and relative humidity of 90% +5% for 25 days. After being stored for 25 days, the bananas were taken out of the chamber and exposed to a room temperature of 25°C, which analyzes were performed for 9 days, with a two-day interval in between, simulating the marketing period. The following analyses were carried out: Firmness, peel color, soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity, amide, total sugars, reducing sugars and electrolyte extravasation.

Results: Lower hue, chroma, soluble solids, titratable acidity, total sugar, reducing sugar and electrolyte extravasation values were found for bananas harvested at 16 weeks.

Conclusion: Bunch harvest age had a direct influence on post-harvest quality of bananas ‘Prata-Anã’. Fruits from 16-week bunches were superior in physical and chemical characteristics compared to other ages, meaning a longer post-harvest life.