Acclimation and cold storage on postharvest quality of bananas 'nanicão'

This work aimed to evaluate, through physical and chemical parameters, the postharvest quality of banana 'Nanicão' totally green and acclimatized after 17 days of storage, and totally green and submitted to two storage conditions (room temperature and cooling). Fruits were harvested at totally green color stage and the experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four treatments: (stored at 13 °C; stored at 25 °C; stored for 17 days at 13 °C, ripened and stored at 13 °C; stored for 17 days at 13 °C, ripened and stored at 25 °C). The performed evaluations were: loss of fresh mass, titratable acidity, pH, soluble solids and total and reducing sugars. Totally green non-acclimatized Bananas 'Nanicão' stored for 38 days at 13 °C and 28 days at 25 °C did not complete the ripening process. Also they exhibited a small increase of soluble solids, total and reducing sugars, and a high percentage of loss of fresh mass. The totally green fruit stored for 17 days at 13 °C and subsequently brought into the process of acclimatization ripened completely. However, these fruits exhibited lower sugar content and high mass loss, regardless the storage temperature. The period of 17 days is not recommended for storage of bananas 'Nanicão' totally green for further acclimatization. The cooling temperature (13 °C) was effective in delaying fruit ripening.

Musa cavendishii; refrigeration; acclimatization