The document discusses the post-harvest processes of cleaning, sorting, and grading bananas. Cleaning involves chlorine washing to remove latex, chemicals, soil particles, and microorganisms from the fruit surface. Sorting removes overripe, bruised, rotten, diseased, or damaged fruits. Grading categorizes fruits based on finger number and size into classes for marketing. The key steps help prepare the bananas for packaging, storage, ripening and distribution to consumers.

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Cleaning, sorting and grading of banana

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Cleaning, sorting and grading of banana
Introduction
Cleaning
Cleaning refers to chlorine washing of the banana fruit for the
removal of undesirable material including latex, chemicals, adhering soil
particles along with the microorganisms carried by the soil.
Sorting
Sorting in banana would refer to removal of overripe, injured,
bruised, rotten, diseased, infected and cut fruits.
Grading
Grading in banana fruit would refer to categorization of fruits
based on number & size of fingers in each hand.

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Cleaning, sorting and grading of banana
Harvesting Cleaning with
Chlorine water
Rinsing in water &
trimming of crowns
Grading Fungicides &
Alum treatment
Marketing &
Consumer
Delatexing of
hands
Packaging Storage &
Ripening
Sequence of postharvest operations in banana

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Source: www.offbeatenough.com
Harvesting of Banana fruit

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Cleaning, sorting and grading of banana
Source: http://arbolatrading.com/IRS%20-%20BANANAS.pdf
Colour Guide for Post harvest Handling of Banana fruit

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Cleaning, sorting and grading of banana
Colour Guide for Post harvest Handling of Banana fruit
Source: http://arbolatrading.com/IRS%20-%20BANANAS.pdf
Harvesting Stage Characteristics
1. All green Very firm fruit with very low sugar content. Immediately upon arrival at warehouse,
fruit should be placed into ripening room at appropriate temperature. Appropriate
stage for long distance transportation.
2. Light Green Fruit becomes less firm as starch begins to convert into sugar. Ripening process has
begun and fruit generates heat which must be removed to control ripening.
3. More Green than
Yellow
Fruit softens as starch convert s into sugar. Ripening process generates considerable
amounts of heat which must be removed. Retail delivery recommended.
4. MoreYellow than
Green
Proper colour for retail display provides good consumer acceptance and product life.
Fruit requires careful handling.
5.Yellow with
green tips
Fruit must be stored with box tops removed and cartons stacked for ventilation. Fruit
not on display should be stored at 580F.
6. FullYellow Soft fruit with good flavour. Fruit should be on display and not in storage.
7.Yellow with
brown flecks
Brown flecks indicate high sugar. Consumer can refrigerate fruit to maintain flavour or
can be peeled and frozen. Fruits should be separated from less ripe fruit.

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http://www.voltariver.com/images/organic/organic-land-.jp
Cleaning and delatexing of banana

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Cleaning, sorting and grading of banana
Cleaning, Delatexting & Fungicide treatment
Banana fruits are immersed in a huge tank of fresh water for about 30 min
(Sodium hypochlorate is an effective solvent) and ‘delatexed’ - in other
words the latex on them is washed away. In order to protect fruit against
fungal attack (especially during rainy season) which causes crown rot
during shipment, the crowns are treated with fungicide involving spraying
the banana fruit.
Care taken during fungicide spray:
Permissible (i.e. not prohibited) for use on the crop after harvest; effective in
controlling the post-harvest diseases; used in accordance with the
manufacturers' instructions and at their recommended concentrations
(excessive residues on produce may lead to its rejection); agitated
continuously during use to prevent its settling out. Care must be taken that
employees using fungicides observe all the precautions applicable to their
use and that they wear the necessary protective clothing.

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Sorting and Grading of banana

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Source: www.josefpolleross.com/23_Ecuadr,%20Bananas.jpg
Sorting and Grading of banana
Diseased damaged and undesirable fruits are separated from the lot. Generally
fruits are categorized based on their size and colour and stage of maturity.

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Grading in banana
• Mainly based on size, colour and maturity of the fruits.
• Smaller fruits are separated from the larger ones to achieve uniform
ripening.
• Immature, overripe, damaged and diseased fruits are discarded.
• The fruits are generally harvested early in the season at a pre-mature
stage to capture early market.
• Ethylene application is the best method to hasten ripening without loss
in fruit quality and flavour.
• Mature fruits are ripened with lower doses of ethrel for uniform colour
development (slow ripening under controlled condition at 150-180 C).

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AGMARK Standards for grading of banana fruit
1. Bananas shall be obtained from Varieties (cultivars) of Musa. spp. of the Musaceae family.
2. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
(i) Bananas shall be :
(a) whole (taking the finger as the reference),
(b) firm,
(c) sound,
(d) clean, free of any visible foreign matter,
(e) free of bruisings,
(f) free of pests affecting the general appearance of produce,
(g) with the stalk intact, without bending, fungal damage or dessication,
(h) with pistils removed,
(i) free of malformation or abnormal curvature of the fingers,
(j) free of damage caused by low temperature,
(k) free of abnormal external moisture excluding condensation following removal from cold
storage and bananas packed under modified atmosphere condition,
(l) free of any foreign smell and/or taste.
(ii) In addition, hands and clusters must include:
- a sufficient portion of the crown of normal colouring, sound and free of fungal
contamination,
- a cleanly cut crown, not bevelled or torn, with no stalk fragments.
(iii) Bananas shall comply with the residue levels of heavy metals, Pesticides and other food
safety parameters as laid down by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for exports

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Grade
designation
Grade Requirements Grade tolerances
Extra class Bananas shall be of superior quality. They must be
characteristics of the variety and/or commercial type.
The fingers must be free of defects, with the exception
of very slight superficial defects, provided these do not
affect the general appearance of the produce, quality,
the keeping quality and presentation in the package.
5% by number or weight of
bananas not satisfying the
requirements of the grade, but
meeting those of for Class I grade
or, exceptionally, coming within the
tolerances for that class.
Class I Bananas shall be of good quality. They must be
characteristics of the variety and/or commercial type.
The following slight defects of the fingers, however,
may be allowed, provided these do not affect the
general appearance of the produce, quality, the
keeping quality and presentation in the package.
- slight defects in shape and colour;
- slight defects due to rubbing and other superficial
defects not exceeding 2 sq.cm. of the total
surface area.
The defects must not affect the flesh of the fruit.
10% number or weight of bananas
not satisfying the requirements of
the grade
class, but meeting those of
Class II or, exceptionally, coming
within the tolerances of that grade.
3. Criteria for grade designation:

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Grade
designation
Grade Requirements Grade tolerances
Class II This includes bananas which do not qualify for
inclusion in the higher classes, but satisfy the
minimum requirements. The following defects
may be there, provided the bananas retain their
essential characteristics as regards the quality,
the keeping quality and presentation.
- defects in shape and colour provided the
product remains the normal characteristics
of bananas;
- skin defects due to scrapping, scabs,
rubbing, blemishes or other causes not
exceeding 4 sq.cm. of the total surface area;
The defects must not affect the flesh of the fruit.
10% by number or weight
of bananas not satisfying
the requirements of the
grade, but meeting the
minimum requirements.
3. Criteria for grade designation: -cont-

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4. Other requirements
(i) The development and condition of the bananas must be such as to enable them:
- to reach the appropriate stage of physiological maturity corresponding to the
particular characteristics of the variety,
- to withstand transport and handling, and
- to arrive in satisfactory condition at the place of destination in order to ripen
satisfactorily.
(ii) Bananas must be presented in hands and clusters (parts of hands) of atleast four
fingers. Bananas may also be presented as single finger.
- Clusters with no more than two missing fingers are allowed, provided the stalk
is not torn but clearly cut, without damage to the neighboring fingers.
- Not more than one cluster of three fingers with the same characteristics as the
other fruit in the package may be present per row.

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Let us sum up
• Banana is one of the most is the most important fruit crops of India. It is
available through out the year in the country.
• Drying, curing, sorting and grading are important operations in potato after
harvesting
• Cleaning of potato refers to removal of undesirable material i.e. adhering
soil alongwith the microorganisms carried by the soil while, Sorting in potato
would refer to removal of rotten, diseased, infected and cut fruits.
• Grading in potato would refer to categorization of fruits based mostly on
their size / weight into 4 to 6 categories through rectangular sieves.
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