Postharvest technologies in the ripening of ‘Maçã’ bananas stored in ambient condition

The banana is a climacteric fruit with a limited shelf life in the environment and sensitive to storage under refrigeration, necessitating strategies to improve its post harvest conservation. In this sense, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of post harvest technologies on the quality and the prolongation of the useful life of ‘Maçã’ bananas during storage in ambient temperature condition (25 oC). The fruits were obtained in physiological maturity in the green color and immersed in the following solutions: distilled water (control), cassava starch, maize starch and 3% calcium chloride for three minutes in addition to the sachets containing 3g KMnO4 for one period of 12 days in ambient condition. The evaluations took place every three days in terms of loss of fresh weight, firmness of peel, starch content, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, SS/AT ratio and incidence of rot. The postharvest treatments extended the shelf life of the fruits for 12 days in relation to the nine days of the control treatment. Among the evaluated technologies, the use of sachets of KMnO4 delayed ripening by observing fruits with higher green retention of the peel and pulp firmness, as well as lower fresh mass loss, starch degradation, soluble solids synthesis, ratio SS/AT and incidence of rot during the storage period. Thus, the ethylene absorber based on KMnO4 represents a viable alternative for the preservation of the quality of 'Maçã' bananas during commercialization at room temperature. Key-words: Musa sp., Ethylene Absorber, Calcium Chloride, Edible Coatings, Fruit Quality