Effect of Shrink Wrapping on Shelf Life of Bananas

Mature green locally available bananas (Chakkerkeli) were pretreated (hot water 50 °C; 10 min) and shrink wrapped in shrink films of polyolefin 15 μ and cryovac 9 μ and stored at ambient storage conditions (Temp = 33°C; RH 72%). An experiment was conducted, both for fingers and hands; periodical observation was recorded in % weight loss, firmness, colour, percent decay and the CO2 transmission rate of stored bananas. The PLW increased gradually in banana, during the storage period. Hands wrapped with polyolefin 15 μ, recorded the lowest weight loss of 1.72%, followed by hands wrapped with cryovac 9 μ. Unwrapped fingers recorded more weight loss (27.48%) compared with wrapped fingers by the end of storage period. The fruit firmness followed a declining trend because of the softening of fruit tissues. Hands wrapped in polyolefin 15μ recorded highest firmness (3.65 kg). The Colour of the fruits changed slowly from green to yellow. The highest colour change from green to yellow was recorded with unwrapped finger bananas and the lowest was observed with hands wrapped with polyolefin 15μ. Decay percentage increased gradually, during the storage period. But, the rate of decay was faster in unwrapped treatments. The CO2 transmission rate increased, with the increase in storage period with lowest in hands, wrapped with polyolefin 15μ. It was noticed that, shrink film increased the shelf life and maintained the quality of banana fruits for 14 days, under ambient conditions.