ABSTRACT
The use of ripening agents to ripenen fruits is a very common practice in developing countries. Some of these ripening agents are potentially toxic. This experiment was conducted in the Faculty Of Agriculture Main Laboratory, University Of Benin,Edo State, Nigeria. The study was carried out from April to May. This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of chemical ripening agents and biological ripening agents on the chemical compositions of banana(Musa sp.). Six ripening agents namely: calcium carbide, potash, mango, palm fruit, avocado pear and apple were used and compared with a control with no ripening agent in a polythene bag and control under open air . the experiment was laid out in a complete randomized table. The parameters evaluated were pulp to peel ratio, days to 50% ripening, days to 100% ripening, PH of pulp when ripened, moisture content, ash content fiber content, NFE, protein content and heavy metals like Zn, Cu and Mg. Result showed that RB1-RB3 APPLE ripened at day at day4 ,day3 and day5 respectively. RB1- RB3 CONTROL OPEN AIR ripened on day 7 while RB3 CONTROL OPEN AIR was ripened at day 6.RB1-RB3 AVOCADO were ripened on day6, day7 and day 7 respectively.RB1-RB3 CALCIUM CARBIDE were ripened on day5,day4 and day 5 respectively.RB1-RB3 CONTROL IN BAG were all ripened on day 7, RB1-RB3 MANGO ripenned on day9, day5 and day9 respectively. Lastly,RB1-RB3 POTASH all ripened at day 6. The ash contents range from 2-4%. Protein value was highest in banana under the treatments potash and control under open air 26.3-18.1% respectively, and lowest when calcium carbide was used 10.5%.Fat content was lowest in potash and calcuimcarbide 11.26-11.99%, respectively. When compared with control under open air, the moisture content increased from 28%-32%. while carbohydrate content range was 24.4-43%. calcuimcarbide had the highest trace of Cu, 1.3mg/kg. The highest level of fiber content was highest in bananas under the treatment of palm oil and lowest in the treatment of calcuimcarbide. During the course of this study it was observed that using apple as a biological ripening agent, hastens the ripening of banana faster than calcuimcarbide and also contains Zn and Cu (1.1 and 0.8 respectively) in a level significantly low to that of banana under the treatments of calcuimcarbide (3.8 and 1.5 respectively).
