Changes in colour and texture and their relationship with eating quality during storage of two different dessert bananas

The behaviour during storage at 20 °C without any controlled atmosphere of two different varieties of dessert bananas from the Musa cavendish AAA group and the Musa paradisiaca L. AAB group was studied. Changes in instrumental colour and texture, and in a number of a sensory attributes ("green colour", "yellow colour", "colour uniformity" and "quantity of dark spots" of banana peel and "pulp spots", "over-ripe zones", "hardness", "ripe taste", "sweetness", "astringency" and "central fibrosity") by a descriptive sensory panel, and acceptability by a consumer panel of the two varieties over storage were analysed. During storage, the change in peel colour from green to yellow was gradual in the M. cavendish samples, whereas the M. paradisiaca variety presented a different pattern, remaining green for the first 8 days and then changing rapidly to a yellow tone from day 12 onwards. While the flesh texture of the M. cavendish type bananas softened quite rapidly during storage, it evolved more slowly in the M. paradisiaca variety and there was little variation in the flesh hardness values over the storage time. Maximum sensory acceptability in the M. cavendish samples was found at 8-12 days' storage, for 90% of consumers, but did not rise above 50% in the M. paradisiaca variety.

The authors received financial assistance from the Programa de Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo (Project CYTED XI.16) and are also indebted to the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología of Spain for financial support (Project AGL 2003-09208-C03-02). They also wish to thank Mary Georgina Hardinge for assistance with the English text.