Role of Ethrel, Polythene Bags and KMnO4 on Storage Life of Banana cv. Grand Naine

Banana is an important fruit crop with high productivity. “GRAND NAINE’ variety of banana has been popularized because of high yield potential with quality fruits. Post harvest life of banana fruit is short for its perishable and climacteric nature. Various physico-chemical changes occur during ripening. A research study was carried out in the laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, Khalsa College, Amritsar during 2016-2017 to study the effect of ethrel, polythene bags and KMnO4 on storage life of banana cv. Grand Naine. The experiment comprised of seven postharvest treatments viz., ethrel 300 ppm, ethrel 400 ppm, ethrel 600 ppm, perforated polythene bags, unperforated polythene bags, unperforated polythene bags with KMnO4 and control. Results revealed that Among all the treatments, KMnO4 treated banana showed minimum (2.3%) total weight loss at 8th day of storage. The highest fruit color (7), pulp to peel ratio (2.41%), fruit taste (9.10), moisture content in pulp (76.60%), total soluble solids (21.97%), total sugars (18.09%) and reducing sugars (12.10%) were observed in the treatment of ethrel 600 ppm.