Evaluation of ripening period, shelf-life, and physiological properties of Sobri (Musa cavendish) and Sagor (Musa oranta) bananas triggered by ethephon and calcium carbide

<jats:p>The current work emphasis on the influence of using natural and artificial (ethephon and calcium carbide) process on bananas by sensory observation. The objective of the study was to evaluate the ripening period, shelf-life and other physiological properties of bananas using the natural and the artificial method. Ethephon and calcium carbide with different concentrations, heat, and natural process were applied for the evaluation of two banana species. The result shows different shelf-life, ripening period, and physiological properties of both bananas which were monitored through the physical appearance and sensorial analysis. The ripening period and shelf-life were between 2-3.5 days in both bananas treated with ethephon. For calcium carbide treated banana, ripening period evaluated as 2-3 days for Sagor and 3-4 days for Sobri with same shelf-life duration approximately 2-3 days. Ripening period and Shelf-life for heat applied both bananas were about 4-5 and 3-4 days, respectively. Moreover, it is observed that naturally ripening process took 5-6 and 7-8 days for Sagor and Sobri bananas, respectively with the shelf-life of 5-6 days. Bananas (both) treated with ethephon exhibited attractive bright yellow color and stalk color was green for Sagor while it was yellow for Sobri bananas. Calcium carbide treated both bananas had same peel color with different flavor and stalk color. Heat applied both bananas found with same peel color like light yellow, with little flavor and green in stalk color. Overall, the effect of natural process is found to be better with respect to longer shelf-life approximately 5-6 days, attractive flavor, and soft texture than the artificial process. Among artificially ripened bananas the effect of heat process is better with respect to shelf-life around 3-4 days and application of ethephon process is better with respect to physiological properties.</jats:p>