Physical and Mechanical Properties of Three Commercially Grown Banana (<i>Musa acuminata </i>Colla) Cultivars in Sri Lanka

<p>Physical and mechanical properties of banana (<em>Musa acuminata </em><em>Colla</em>) 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...

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Main Authors: W M C B Wasala, D A N Dharmasena, T M R Dissanayake, B M K S Thilakarathne
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya 2015-01-01
Series:Tropical Agricultural Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://tar.sljol.info/articles/7988
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author W M C B Wasala
D A N Dharmasena
T M R Dissanayake
B M K S Thilakarathne
author_facet W M C B Wasala
D A N Dharmasena
T M R Dissanayake
B M K S Thilakarathne
author_sort W M C B Wasala
collection DOAJ
description <p>Physical and mechanical properties of banana (<em>Musa acuminata </em><em>Colla</em>) 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&lt;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&gt;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&gt;0.05). This data could be used for appropriate designs and improvements of postharvest handling and packaging in future.</p><p>Tropical Agricultural Research Vol. 24(1): 42-53(2012)</p><p>DOI:<strong> </strong><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/tar.v24i1.7988">http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/tar.v24i1.7988</a></p>
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spelling doaj.art-ced2f28c0c6d404390cac3b901b181002022-12-22T00:48:05ZengPostgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of PeradeniyaTropical Agricultural Research1016-14222015-01-01241425310.4038/tar.v24i1.79885917Physical and Mechanical Properties of Three Commercially Grown Banana (<i>Musa acuminata </i>Colla) Cultivars in Sri LankaW M C B Wasala0D A N Dharmasena1T M R Dissanayake2B M K S Thilakarathne3University of PeradeniyaUniversity of PeradeniyaInstitute of Postharvest Technology, Jayanthi Mawatha, AnuradhapuraInstitute of Postharvest Technology, Jayanthi Mawatha, Anuradhapura<p>Physical and mechanical properties of banana (<em>Musa acuminata </em><em>Colla</em>) 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&lt;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&gt;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&gt;0.05). This data could be used for appropriate designs and improvements of postharvest handling and packaging in future.</p><p>Tropical Agricultural Research Vol. 24(1): 42-53(2012)</p><p>DOI:<strong> </strong><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/tar.v24i1.7988">http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/tar.v24i1.7988</a></p>https://tar.sljol.info/articles/7988physical propertiesfruit fingerbanana bunchdensityharvest maturity
spellingShingle W M C B Wasala
D A N Dharmasena
T M R Dissanayake
B M K S Thilakarathne
Physical and Mechanical Properties of Three Commercially Grown Banana (<i>Musa acuminata </i>Colla) Cultivars in Sri Lanka
Tropical Agricultural Research
physical properties
fruit finger
banana bunch
density
harvest maturity
title Physical and Mechanical Properties of Three Commercially Grown Banana (<i>Musa acuminata </i>Colla) Cultivars in Sri Lanka
title_full Physical and Mechanical Properties of Three Commercially Grown Banana (<i>Musa acuminata </i>Colla) Cultivars in Sri Lanka
title_fullStr Physical and Mechanical Properties of Three Commercially Grown Banana (<i>Musa acuminata </i>Colla) Cultivars in Sri Lanka
title_full_unstemmed Physical and Mechanical Properties of Three Commercially Grown Banana (<i>Musa acuminata </i>Colla) Cultivars in Sri Lanka
title_short Physical and Mechanical Properties of Three Commercially Grown Banana (<i>Musa acuminata </i>Colla) Cultivars in Sri Lanka
title_sort physical and mechanical properties of three commercially grown banana i musa acuminata i colla cultivars in sri lanka
topic physical properties
fruit finger
banana bunch
density
harvest maturity
url https://tar.sljol.info/articles/7988
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