Forcing the Saba Banana (Musa balbisiana) Fruits to Ripen with the Leaves of Various Plants

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Saba banana takes several days to be ripened (5-10 days). This typical condition is unwanted for the sellers. The usual solution for this problem is to use and add calcium carbide or "karburo" on the banana but because "karburo" is flammable, volatile and may have substances that are harmful to individuals, it is necessary to find other means of forcing Saba bananas to ripen. in this investigatory project, Saba bananas were forced to ripen with the use of leaves from varied plants.

METHODS

Saba bananas were forced to ripen with the use of leaves from varied plants such as acacia, ipil-ipil and kamias leaves. Two hundred (200) grams of the leaves were covered with newspaper together with five (5) fingers of same appearance of bananas. After every 24 hours for 5 days, the covered bananas were checked and observed and their appearances were recorded in the data sheet.

RESULTS

Among the leaves investigated, acacia leaves were the most effective in forcing the earliest ripening of banana fruits. After 24 hours of wrapping unripe and green Saba bananas with acacia leaves, fruits were almost ripening when removed from the covered newspaper. The second most effective ripening agent was ipil-ipi" leaves. The ripening of Saba bananas using "kamias" leaves was almost the same as those of bananas that were allowed to ripen without leaves.

DISCUSSIONS

To ripen the banana, farmers used calcium carbide which is dangerous for the health of the people that's why study like this aims to solve the problem of using "karburo" to ripen the saba banana fruits. Fruits ripen by itself because of ethylene. Because of the experiments conducted at UPLB, this investigatory project tried and evaluated the effectiveness of other leaves like acacia, ipil-ipil and kamias in forcing the ripening of saba bananas. Ripening of Saba was fastest when acacia leaves were used. This is followed by the ipil-ipi" leaves. The ripening of bananas using kamias leaves was almost the same as bananas without leaves (control).