Effects of different bagging treatments on main quality indices and storability of banana fruit

In order to understand the influences of different bagging materials and different combinations of the materials that are commonly used by fruit growers on postharvest performance, effects of 11 different bagging treatments on dry matter percentage, total soluble solids contents, Vitamin C contents, weight loss rate and shelf life of bananas were investigated. Different layers of bagging had different effects on dry matter percentage, with the single-layered baggings resulting in the highest dry matter percentage, the next being the non-bagging control, and double-layered baggings being the lowest. Also, the postharvest weight-loss of bananas differed with different layers of baggings, with the control being the highest, then the single-layered baggings, and the double-layered being the lowest. Different bagging treatments resulted in different banana shelf-life, which was six days for black plastic film bags, five days for six treatments, such as blue plastic film bag, brown paper bag, PP woven bag plus newspaper lining, PP woven bags plus polyester ball padding lining, black plastic film bag plus polyester ball padding lining and blue plastic film bag plus newspaper lining, and four days for the non-bagging control, PP woven bags, black plastic film bag plus newspaper lining and blue plastic film bag plus polyester ball padding lining. All the bagging treatments decreased soluble solids contents and increased Vitamin C contents. In conclusion, most baggings improved the storability: they reduced water loss, especially the double-layered. Most bagging treatments extended shelf-life. Baggings showed different effects on different quality indices, they increased vitamin C content, but decreased total soluble solids. Single-layered baggings tended to elevate dry matter percentage, but double-layered baggings tended to lower it. The results indicate that in terms of the effects on fruit quality and storability, the black plastic film and and the brown paper could be among the best, and the most commonly used blue plastic film might be the worst.