Evaluation of chemical quality attributes in bruised bananas during storage

The influence of three impact energies resulted from simulated impactor, three storage temperatures conditions, and 12 days of storage duration was evaluated in the chemical characteristics of bruised banana fruit. The study used the pendulum impactor for impact energy generation (low, medium, high). The bruise size measurements, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, maturity index (sugar:acid ratio), and pH were analysed. Some minerals were determined like sodium, calcium, and potassium. The results showed that increasing all factors significantly affected the bruise susceptibility value of banana. Bananas conditioned at 22 °C after being impacted by high damage recorded the highest total soluble solids (20.95 °Brix), sugar:acid ratio (131.38%), and lower acidity (0.15%). Storage at 22 °C accelerated the changes in pH after 12 days of storage. Calcium and potassium were influenced by storage temperatures. Regarding the regression model, the 3 indicators accounts for 61.8% and 82.8% of bruise area and total soluble solids variance, respectively. The bruise susceptibility was correlated negatively with acidity and positively correlated with other bruise parameters, pH, total soluble solids. Overall, the chemical attributes provide a clue to understanding the bruise susceptibility of banana fruit. Also, the study successfully emphasized that the mechanical damage proposed by the study can affect the bruise magnitude and the chemical quality attributes of banana fruit during storage, thus the methodology of the study can be applied for different produce at multiple storage conditions.