How to preserve bananas during transportation

The climate and environment in the north cannot be imitated, so most of the bananas shipped to the north are shipped from the south. However, since bananas themselves release ethylene, they may rot if they are transported for too long. So many people pick bananas when they are still green. So how should bananas be stored during transportation?

Environmental conditions for banana storage

(I) Temperature: The preservation, storage, transportation and ripening of bananas are most affected by temperature, which is also a sensitive factor. After harvesting, banana fruits are stored in an environment of 15~30℃ and relative humidity of 85~95%. The higher the temperature, the faster the ripening period. When the temperature is 25~35℃, they can mature in 3~5 days.

Under the condition of high temperature of 40~40℃ and low temperature of 10~9℃ for 1~2 days, the fruit surface will be slightly damaged. After ripening, the sweetness and fragrance are still close to normal, but the quality has been significantly reduced, and the skin is yellow with gray. When the temperature is above 45℃ and below 8℃, banana fruits will be severely damaged and the peel will turn black. At high temperatures above 50°C and low temperatures between 7 and 5°C, the peels of most bananas will turn black in 3 to 6 days, becoming difficult to ripen and rotting. Many experiments and practices have proved that the most suitable storage temperature for bananas produced in our area is 11-13°C. With high technical measures and conditions, they can be stored fresh for 5-6 months without rotting. Constant temperature is good for preserving food, while variable temperature is not.

(ii) Relative humidity: Increasing the relative humidity of the banana storage environment is aimed at effectively reducing the evaporation of fruit water and avoiding various adverse physiological effects caused by fruit wilting. Under the condition of effective use of preservatives, a relative humidity of 98~100% in a suitable refrigerated condition (12~13℃) is ideal for preserving bananas.

(III) Gas composition The gas composition in the fresh-keeping storage environment is an important factor affecting the fresh-keeping storage effect of bananas. Under certain temperature conditions, the storage time can be extended by adjusting the gas composition of the storage environment.

The main components in the storage environment are carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen and ethylene, and the gas regulation is mainly the ratio of carbon dioxide and oxygen. During fresh-keeping storage, banana fruits of different varieties or the same variety from different origins require different ratios of carbon dioxide and oxygen. For example, Williams bananas, according to experiments, can be preserved for 5 weeks at 20°C with 5% carbon dioxide and 3% oxygen; they can be preserved for 4.5 months (138 days) at 0% carbon dioxide and 3% oxygen, and can mature normally when moved to the air; a single fruit can be preserved for 6 months at 5% carbon dioxide and 3% oxygen, and the time may be longer if there is a suitable storage temperature. Therefore, the polyethylene film bags currently used to package bananas extend the storage life of bananas by spontaneously adjusting the gas composition (the bags have different permeabilities to carbon dioxide and oxygen).

The carbon dioxide and oxygen content in polyethylene bags varies from bag to bag and from bag to bag at different times under the same conditions. It is reported that under normal temperature conditions, the carbon dioxide content ranges from 0.5 to 7.0%, and the oxygen content is 0.5 to 10.0%.

Generally speaking, by putting an appropriate amount of adsorbent filled with saturated potassium permanganate aqueous solution and calcium peroxide (slaked lime) into the bag, the storage time of bananas can be significantly extended under the conditions of 11-13°C temperature, higher carbon dioxide and lower oxygen content.

(IV) Drug Effects: The characteristic of banana metabolism from harvest to maturity is a respiratory peak. During the respiratory peak, before or at the same time as the respiratory peak, the ethylene content increases a hundredfold, and ethylene in turn promotes the enhancement of respiration.

The key to preserving bananas is to delay the occurrence of their respiratory peak to achieve the purpose. Some chemical compounds can delay the ripening and aging of bananas and are widely used in the preservation and storage of bananas.

(a) Cytokines: such as BA and K4, have a good greening effect.

(ii) Vitamin K5: Treating bananas with a concentration of 50-500 PPM can inhibit the growth of microorganisms and delay the ripening of the fruit.

(III) Gibberellic acid (920) at a concentration of 10 PPM can delay the ripening and color change of bananas and is effective in protecting hair.

(iv) Ethylene absorber: It is widely used in the preservation and storage of bananas.