EFFECT OF POST HARVEST TREATMENTS ON QUALITY AND SHELF LIFE OF BANANA CV. GRAND NAINE.

The present investigation entitled Effect of various ripening agents on physical characteristics of banana cv. Grand Naine was conducted in the laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, Khalsa College, Amritsar during 2016-2017. The experiment comprised of six postharvest treatments viz., ethrel 300 ppm, ethrel 400 ppm, ethrel 600 ppm, cold water + ethrel 200 ppm, hot water + ethrel 200 ppm and control . Changes in different physical characteristics of banana were studied at 2 days interval during storage for 8 days. The two-factor experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Results of the study revealed that marked variations were recorded among the post harvest treatments on ripening of banana. The highest fruit color (7), pulp to peel ratio (2.41%), fruit taste (9.10), physiological loss in weight(5.9 %) and minimum fruit firmness (6.00 kg/cm2) was observed in the treatment of ethrel 600 ppm. Among bio-chemical characters the highest moisture content in pulp (76.60 %), total soluble solids (21.97 %), total sugars (18.09 %), reducing sugars (12.10 %) and minimum titratable acidity (0.18 %) and starch content (3.01 %) were also observed in the treatment of ethrel 600 ppm