PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHANGES IN CAVENDISH BANANA (MUSA-CAVENDISHII L VAR MONTEL) AT DIFFERENT POSITIONS WITHIN A BUNCH DURING DEVELOPMENT AND MATURATION

Studies on the physico-chemical changes between different hand positio ns (top, middle and bottom) within a bunch and different finger positi ons (upper and lower) within a hand at different maturity stages (betw een 3 and 15 weeks from the flower emergence) were carried out on 'Mon tel' banana (Musa cavendishii L). The suitable harvesting stage was fo und to be between 12 and 15 weeks after flower emergence. The size, we ight, volume and peel colour of fruits increased significantly (P < 0. 01) for fruits from all positions (hands and fingers within a hand) of the bunch until the end of maturity stage. On the other hand. texture values of the fruit decreased significantly (P < 0.01). The total sol uble solids (TSS), ascorbic acid (AA) and sugar contents increased slo wly during development, but the increase was rapid during ripening. Th e starch composition accumulated gradually (P < 0.05) at the early sta ges and decreased thereafter. The pH and titratable acidity (TA) value s showed an irregular pattern in all the fruits from all positions dur ing the maturity stage. However, significant differences were also det ected in size, weight, volume, peel colour, texture, TSS, AA, pH, TA, starch and sugar contents between different hands and different finger s portions from the same bunch. (C) 1998 Society of Chemical Industry.