Study on the Chemical and Biochemical Changes during Growth and Maturation of Banana Cv. Poovan Mysore (AAB) (Musa SP. L.)

Abstract

Bananas and plantain is the most popular food, fruit crop both in the tropical and subtropical countries and is an important staple food especially in the African countries. In India, one of the origins of banana, the crop has surpassed the traditional dominance of mango with a total production of 19.2 million tons from an area of 5.65 lakh hectares. Bananas and plantain contribute about 33 per cent of the total fruit production in the country and is also interwoven with the socioeconomic and cultural heritage of the people of the country1. Among the varieties of banana under commercial cultivation in India "Poovan" is the popular one grown commercially in different regions due to its adaptability for high degree of drought in a perennial cropping system and is the leading commercial cultivar of Tamiinadu. Since bananas are usually picked green and ripened off the plant, there has been little incentive to study the chemical changes in the fruit during development. Lodh et al. have reported on the chemical changes in the banana fruit during various stages of development. However, literature on the changes in chemical composition of culinary or cooking type banana during development is seldom available. The present study was initiated to determine the physical and chemical composition during development of a culinary banana (Musa AAB) locally known as 'Poovan'.