The common banana ripening methods practiced by fruit sellers are application of calcium carbide or 'ethrel'. Ethrel is expensive and therefore the ethylene analogue calcium carbide is commonly used although it contains heavy metals as it is readily available. Therefore a passive evaporative cooler made of charcoal, cement and sand was tested as a ripening chamber for banana as the internal relative humidity and temperature were ideal for banana ripening. The evaporative cooler maintained a high relative humidity of around 90-98% with a 3 o C temperature reduction than room temperature during the test period. In the experiment, banana cultivars were allowed to ripen with 1000ppm ethrel and without ethrel, in two evaporative coolers and in two corrugated fibreboard boxes with the same dimensions of the cooler, under room conditions. Fruits from a single hand were subjected to all treatments and four parameters; TSS, peel colour, firmness and weight were tested. There were no significant differences of TSS, peel colour and firmness among four treatments. However for all cultivars, the weight loss was 16-22% for fruits ripened in the boxes while the weight loss was 3-6% .for those ripened in the evaporative cooler.

Physical and mechanical properties of banana (Musa acuminata Colla) are necessary to design handling and packaging equipment, and for safe transportation. The postharvest losses of banana in Sri Lanka are about 30 % and the mechanical damage during transport and handling contributes largely for these losses. Further, about 97 % of fruits are handled by the traditional marketing channels under poor postharvest handling practices and therefore, safe handling and transport is of prime importance at present. The bulk transportation is generally considered as the most cost effective method. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the physical and mechanical properties related to handling and transport of commercially grown local banana cultivars namely, Seeni, Embul and Kolikuttu. The moisture content, linear dimensions of bunches and fruits, sphericity and aspect ratio of fruits, bulk density and true density, coefficient of static friction and the angle of repose on different surfaces such as wood, steel and Styrofoam, and fruit firmness were measured for the above three cultivars at the harvest maturity. The average bunch length of the banana cultivars Embul and Kolikuttu were higher than those of Seeni. The geometrical mean diameters of Embul and Kolikuttu fruits were also higher than Seeni (p<0.05). The average fruit length of Embul, Seeni and Kolikuttu cultivars were 10.5 (±0.86), 10.5 (±0.86) and 14.3 (±1.66) cm, respectively. The fruit finger sphericities were between 0.37-0.38 for all cultivars tested (p>0.05). The bulk density of fruits and hands were higher than those of the whole bunch. The lowest coefficient of static friction was on Styrofoam and the highest was on a wooden surface. There was no significant difference of firmness of mature green banana fruits among the cultivars (p>0.05). This data could be used for appropriate designs and improvements of postharvest handling and packaging in future.

Previous studies have reported that 20-30% of the banana harvest (9,000-13,500 t) is going into waste annually in Sri Lanka mainly due to mechanical damage. The distance of bulk transportation in main distribution channels is about 200 km. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate an appropriate bulk packaging system for banana bulk transportation to minimize postharvest losses occurring due to mechanical damage in Sri Lankan distribution channels. A vibration bed operating at 6 mm amplitude at a 3.5 Hz frequency was used for transportation simulation tests. Three bulk packaging methods; laying of styrofoam sheets of the thicknesses: 10, 8 and 5 mm between bunch layers, wrapping individual banana bunches with styrofoam sheets of 3 and 5 mm thickness and packing banana hands in corrugated fibreboard boxes (CFB) were tested for mechanical damages and final fruit quality. Intact banana bunches were stacked without any packaging as the control. Fruits of the cultivar 'Embul' were subjected to 120 minutes vibration to simulate 100 km distance of travel. Although packing of banana hands in CFB resulted the least mechanical damage (5.9%) fruits lead to rapid ripening. Highest mechanical damage was found in the control (20.8%). Wrapping of individual bunches with Styrofoam sheets reduced the damage but packaging and handling costs were considerably high. Lying of styrofoam sheets of 8 or 10 mm thickness as a cushioning material between the layers of bunches was found to be an appropriate method in terms of reducing mechanical damage. Although, there were no significant differences of damage between 10 and 8 mm thickness sheets, 8 mm sheet reduced the cost of packaging. Therefore, considering the technical and economical feasibility, laying of 8 mm styrofoam sheets in between banana bunch layers for long distance bulk transportation could be recommended under local conditions.

Purpose: This study evaluates a new banana bulk packaging method under the real transport conditions of Sri Lanka. Methods: A field evaluation of optimized 8-mm thick Styrofoam sheets used as the cushioning material was applied. A trial transport was conducted from Thambuttegama to Colombo using a medium-sized open truck, with banana leaves as the control material. Data were recorded at the farmer, transporter, retailer, and consumer stages of the supply chain. Mechanical damage, physiological loss in weight, fruit firmness, total soluble solids, ripeness index, visual quality ratings, and the physical damage index of the bananas were measured at each stage. A cost-benefit analysis was also conducted for both packaging methods. Results: The 8-mm styrofoam sheets significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the mechanical damage from 26.3% to 12.9% compared to the conventional method for long-distance transport, and the physiological loss in weight showed a decrease of 2.88%. The loss of firmness of the fruits followed a simmilar pattern for both methods until reaching the retailer, but at the consumer was significantly higher (p < 0.05) for the control. However, the physical damage index at the retail stage for the control showed symptoms of physical injury, whereas the bananas transported using the cushioning materials exhibited only minor symptoms. Further, the visual quality of the fruits after transport from the farmer to the consumer was preserved, which is one of the main factors affecting consumer preference and retail price. The proposed method increases the profit margin by 51.2% for Embul bananas owing to the reduced postharvest losses. Conclusion: The 8-mm thick Styrofoam sheets reduced the physical damage to the bananas, with the quality parameters maintained at the prefered level. Moreover, profits may be increased.

ABSTRACT:The application of low temperature grinding shows promising pathway to produce higher quality ground product in terms of flavour and volatile oil retention of spices. 49.19 ± 0.99 (L*), 17.35 ± 1.62 (a*), 23.38 ± 1.29 (b*) and 47.52 ± 1.74 (L*), 18.38 ± 0.14 (a*) and 26.93 ± 0.68 (b*). This study revealed that the water can be effectively used as a coolant for reducing temperature rise during grinding in order to preserve the quality of chilli.