Relationship Between the Stage of Development of the Fruit Harvested and the Color of Frozen Green Bananas

Abstract

The color of hot water-peeled green bananas was found to range from a light gray to a deep yellow. Visual color examinations and color measurements with the Hunterlab meter showed that yellowness of green bananas increased with maturity. Hunter L and b values showed a significant correlation with pulp to peel ratios in hot water-peeled fruit, frozen thawed fruit and cooked fruit. The L values decreased and the b values increased as the pulp to peel ratios increased. In order to obtain color uniformity in the frozen product, the green bananas should be harvested at a pulp to peel ratio of about 1.5. The carotenes content of the green bananas increased as pulp to peel ratio increased. The increase in the carotenes was significantly correlated with the Hunter b values. When green bananas harvested at different pulp to peel ratios are hand-peeled, only a slight if any difference in color can be detected among the different grades. However, when the fruit is heated to inactivate the enzyme system before peeling, the yellow color appears.