Influence of Hot Water Treatment and Storage Period on Physico-chemical Properties of Williams Hybrid (Giant cavendish) Banana Fruit

Influence of Hot Water Treatment on Physico-chemical Properties of Banana

Abstract

Banana, a perishable agricultural product due to its poor handling and processing practices results in severe postharvest losses. The experiment evaluating the impact of hot water on the quality characteristics of banana was carried out at the Department of Farm Structures and Postharvest Engineering. The banana samples were subjected to different treatments i.e. immersed in unheated water (TRc) and at three different temperatures i.e. 40 (TR40), 50 (TR50) and 60°C (TR60). The samples after treatment were stored for a duration of fifteen days. The results revealed that the quality of banana was significantly affected by the treatments being applied (P::0.05). It was observed that treatment TR50 retained average maximum values for moisture content (%), fruit pulp firmness (N), pulp to peel ratio, titratable acidity (%) and ash content (%) and average minimum values for peel colour, pulp pH, total sugar content (%), decay incidence (%) and weight loss (%) followed by TR40, TRc and TR60. The results for parameters increased with increasing days of storage except for moisture content, firmness, titratable acidity and ash content. The study concluded that the quality and shelf life of banana sample was better maintained when treated at a temperature of 50 °C (TR50). The current study strongly suggests the adoption of hot water treatment at farm level to reduce the postharvest losses of banana fruit.