Postharvest Treatments to Control Ripening

Controlling the initiation of ripening and the speed that ripening progresses is crucial in bananas especially in their international trade. Ripening is mainly controlled by controlling temperature, the gaseous environment around the fruit, the atmospheric pressure in the stores and, to a lesser extent, humidity. Also, several chemical treatments have been tried with different degrees of success. These methods of controlling ripening initiation and the subsequent speed of ripening are discussed.