香蕉催熟之研究（1）成熟度對香蕉催熟時轉色黃化及櫥架壽命之影響

Studies on the Ripening of Bananas (1) Effect of Maturity on the Degreening and Shelf Life of Bananas during Ripening

在果齡90；100；110；120；130及140天之不同成熟度香蕉間，成熟度愈低之香蕉，其催熟（20℃；乙烯1000ppm）愈困難，催熟不完全與著色不均之問題愈嚴重，且發生之機會愈大，反之，香蕉成熟度愈高，催熟愈容易且黃化均一。惟香蕉經一段時間之貯藏或貯運，則其對乙烯處理之敏感度提高而較易催熟。而櫥架壽命在不同成熟度之香蕉間，亦有成熟度愈低，櫥架壽命愈長之趨勢，然而在較高成熟度。（120～140天）間之差異比低熟皮香蕉間（90～120天）之差異小。文中亦就香蕉成熟度與催熟難易之關係，從植物生長素之觀點，加以討論。

The degreening and shelf life of banana fruits of 90-, 100-, 110-, 120-, 130-, and 140-day-old after shooting were investigated. For the ripening, the bananas were treated with 1000 ppm ethylene at 20°C in the ripening room throughout the experiment. The result showed that when the age of fruits was decreased from 140-to 90-day-old, the rate of degreening was delayed. For instance, the fruits of 90-day-old needed 5.71 days in average to reach a peel color index No.4; whereas those of 140-day-old needed 4.65 days in average only to reach the same appearance. The thinner fruits (less physiological age) tended to ripen unevenly. Bananas, irrespective of age, all became more sensitive to ethylene treatment, and ripened more evenly after a period of storage. The results also indicated that as the age of fruit increased, the shelf life progressively shortened. However, the effect of maturity on shelf life became less influential when the fruits were approaching full maturity. Plant hormones involved in the effect of maturity on the degreening during ripening was also discussed.