Effect of relative humidity on the ripening, behaviour and quality of ethylene treated banana fruit

Abstract

This research was conducted to investigate the effect of different humidity levels in the ripening behavior and quality of ethylene treated and un-treated Banana fruits. The experiment was laid out according to Factorial Design with four replications. It was observed that low relative humidity accelerated the ripening of Banana fruit but when ripening was initiated with ethylene this factor was not dominant. Low humidity (60 - 65%) increased the water loss (6.95%), which reduced the quality of ripe fruit. Banana ripened at medium (80 - 85%) and high relative humidity (90 - 95%) showed the same quality but better than those at low humidity (60 - 65%). In order to attain the best quality ripe fruit banana fruits should be treated with ethylene and relative humidity during ripening must be 90 - 95%