Effect of different packaging materials and calcium chloride on post-harvest longevity of banana

Nepal produces large amount of bananas annually but suffers significant losses owing to inappropriate postharvest management. The objective of the study was to determine the influence of polythene and fiber bag packaging, and calcium chloride treatment on bananas quality and shelf life. The two-factor experiment involved treatments that included bananas wrapped in a polythene and fiber bag of size 60 cm × 60 cm, and an open space, combined with calcium chloride concentrations of 1%, 3%, and 5%, along with untreated fruits kept in open space without using any bag as a control. Each treatment was replicated three times in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The research was conducted for 16 (sixteen) days and the observation taken were physiological weight loss, ripening percent, titratable acidity (TA), and total soluble solid (TSS). Polythene bag with 5% CaCl2 reduced 89.6% weight loss than that of open space with 0% CaCl2. Similarly, polythene bag with 5% CaCl2 reduced ripening percentage by 10.72% compared to open space with 0 % CaCl2. Polythene bag also reduced ripening percentage by 4.14% compared to fiber bag at 16th Day of study. On the 16th Day, ripening percentage was reduced by 5% by 5% CaCl2 concentration compared to 0% CaCl2.  A longer time to reach ripening stage was observed in polythene than those of fiber bags and open space. Thus, the polythene bag with 5% CaCl2 fruits had the highest TSS content (23.2 0Brix).