Considerable accumulation of the free polyamine, putrescine (Put), was
found in both pulp and peel tissue of unchilled and rewarmed bananas
(Musa AAA group) during normal fruit ripening with climacteric ethylen
e production, while free Put remained at the original level in continu
ously chilled fruit. The bound Put content in both tissues of the unch
illed and rewarmed fruits increased ca 3-10 fold. No competitive relat
ionship was observed between Put and ethylene production in the banana
fruit. (C) 1997 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.