Effect of variation in fruit sizes on the speed of ripening, ripening and eating quality

الملخص

This investigation was undertaken to find out the effect of banana fruit size on postharvest ripening, speed of ripening and eating quality. The time needed for fruit to ripen to colour stage 6 (as measured by a^* and b^*) and other measurements (other than total soluble solids content) were not significantly (p= 0.05) affected by fruit sizes. No significant difference in diameter ratio either among fruit lengths or fruit ripeness.  Sensory evaluation showed significantly higher marks in pulp sweetness and banana flavor for medium and large fruits compared to small fruits. Acceptability of the fruits was not significantly different between all fruit sizes.  However, the results indicated that the variation found between the fingers of different sizes was not responsible for the variation in the relative speed of ripening since all finger sizes ripened at about the same time. The study shows that the variation in the fruit length led to a slight variation in the eating quality (medium fingers had a better eating quality).