Application of active packaging on banana; changes in physical and chemical composition during ripening

• Main Author: Goh, Wee Kiat
• Format: Undergraduate Final Project Report
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://discol.umk.edu.my/id/eprint/5817/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Kelantan

This experiment was conducted to investigate applying active packaging i (Moisture absorber and Oxygen absorber) in banana fruit whether or not will affect ripening rate of banana fruits. This experiment used changes in physical and chemical composition of banana to predict it's ripening rate. Moisture content of banana was determined by using desiccation method and ripening stage of banana was determined by peel colour. Glucose (HK) Assay Kit was used to analyze glucose content of banana and protein content of banana was analyzed by using Bradford reagent. These techniques were shown to be an effective way of analyzing unknown chemical composition of banana fruits. The results of applying oxygen absorber in banana packaging were unexpected, lowering oxygen level alone in banana packaging promote ripening instead of delaying. Applying moisture absorber in banana packaging supported my hypothesis that reducing relative humidity of packaging environment can speed up ripening process. However, moisture absorber is not able to absorb excess water droplet cause by sweeting of fruit. The results showed that moisture absorber and oxygen absorber were not suitable to be used in either promoting or delaying ripening process of banana because active packaging cannot solve sweating problem leading to deterioration of banana fruits.