The Effect of Temperature on Banana Ripening and Ethylene Concentration
Jihee Lee, Michelle Shuai, Orissa Grewal, May Cho
Abstract
Bananas are a climacteric fruit, so once they are harvested, they enter a “climate phase”
where they continue to ripen. Many people can also attest to purchasing green bananas at the
supermarket, and waiting for it to ripen over time so it becomes sweet enough to consume. From
this universally shared experience, the ripening of the bananas was studied to see temperature as
a controllable measure, by adding three banana replicates in three different temperature
conditions, of 4ºC, 25ºC, and 40ºC for 5 days. The bananas were monitored and observations
were recorded once a day over the duration of the experiment with visual ripeness and mass
documentations. Other environmental conditions were controlled by wrapping and storing each
banana in plastic wrap to minimise ripening prior to the experiment, and keeping the bananas in
incubators of constant temperatures. It was found that bananas at 25ºC were qualitatively closest
to the ideal “ripe” yellow colour and bananas at 40ºC had the greatest decrease in weight (ie.
released the most amount of ethylene gas) by the end of the 5 days.
Introduction
The Musa acuminata, also known as the common banana, is one of the most consumed
fruits in the world. An estimated 120 million tons of bananas were produced in 2021 globally,
being one of the most produced fruits in the global fruit market (Markets and Trade 2023). The
task of banana transportation from the hot climate where it is grown to the neighbourhood
grocery store is a monumental task (Markets and Trade 2023). Food transporters across the globe
aim to transport fresh picked bananas to stores at the exact moment of ripeness. One of the
primary determinants for banana ripeness is ethylene gas. Ethylene gas is a plant hormone that is
produced as the fruit ripens (Iqbal et al., 2017).
To provide some insight into the task of banana transportation, we want to analyse how
temperature affects banana ripening and ethylene concentrations. Fruit ripening is closely linked
to ethylene, which is a phytohormone that can trigger the fruit to initiate ripening (Maduwanthi
et. al, 2019). We aim to use a colour scale to determine the most optimal banana appearance. We
deemed this to be “C5”, from Figure 1(Gomez et al., 2013). We hypothesized that if the bananas
are stored at a higher temperature (ie. 40ºC), they will be the ripest at the end of 5 days,
containing the least ethylene gas concentration.
Figure 1. Colour scale used as a reference to compare ripeness of our bananas. C5 is considered
to be a perfectly ripe banana. (Gomez, et. al, 2013)
Methods
Nine bananas were bought from a grocery store called No Frills located in Vancouver. 7
of the bananas were connected by the stem coming from one bunch, while the other two bananas
were retrieved from a separate bunch of bananas. At the time of purchase, each banana was
totally green and can identically be ranked as C1 using the colorimetric indicator in Figure 1.
Bananas were spaced evenly (roughly 25 cm) apart on a desk at room temperature. Each banana
was also separately and completely wrapped in plastic wrap, as this reduces ethylene gas release
from bananas which can accelerate the ripening process (Choehom et al., 2004). Bananas were
left on the desk for 24 hours prior to being brought to the lab.
At the lab, bananas were randomly labelled on the peel by their treatment (4°C, 25°C, or
40°C) and banana number (#1, #2, or #3) using a pen. Separate photos of each labelled banana
were then taken. Additionally, each banana was separately recorded for their weight and
photographed on the scale. Qualitative observations were also taken prior to treatment. Then, 3
bananas were placed in the fridge at 4°C, another 3 bananas were placed in an incubator set at
25°C, and the remaining 3 bananas were placed in an incubator set at 40°C.
For the following 4 days of the experiment, each of the four members of the experiment
took turns to come into the lab and record observations. For each of the four days, bananas were
taken out of the incubator or fridge. Each banana was then photographed (on the table and scale),
as well as weighed and recorded for their weight. Additionally, observations regarding their
degree of ripeness, browning, weight change, and overall appearance was recorded for each day.
Bananas were then placed back into their corresponding treatment (incubator or fridge).
Results
After careful monitoring of our nine bananas in three different environments, we were
able to collect our data from taking pictures and monitoring the colour scale, weighing the
bananas, and recording any different textures of the bananas. The most interesting finding we
had was the three bananas kept in each temperature roughly had the same amount of weight loss.
The bananas kept in the fridge of 4ºC, had respectively a weight loss of 5.0g, 4.8g, and 9.8g. The
bananas in the 25ºC incubator had respectively 23.7g, 21.3g, and 22g weight loss. The 40ºC
incubator bananas had a higher discrepancy, of 50.9g, 55.5g, and 55.8g loss in weight.
On the last day, the bananas kept in the fridge were still firm and green, with a lot of new
brown lines and specks. However, the bananas were going from a green-ish colour to brownish,
with barely any yellow shown. From the colour scale, we concluded the final stages were at
“C2”.
The bananas in the 25ºC incubator were very slightly green but mostly yellow. It had a
few scratches but the least brown specks compared to the other temperatures, however, these
bananas had the least amount of scratches in the beginning. We can conclude from the colour
scale, the final stages were at “C4” with some brown spots.
The bananas in 40ºC incubators were very soft and mushy upon picking them up. It also
looked much smaller than the other bananas, which explains why these bananas had the largest
discrepancy when weighing. The stems were completely black, and the banana itself had lots of
brown and black spots. It still looked quite green rather than yellow, but seemed to turn brown
very quickly. From the colour scale, we concluded the final stages were at “C3” with a lot of
additional brown spots and stripes.
Table 1.1 Summarizes the mean weight discrepancies using 3 bananas (ie. replicates) for each of
the 3 temperatures (4ºC, 25ºC, and 40ºC)
4ºC 25ºC 40ºC
Mean weight
discrepancy 6.4 g 22.3 g 54.1 g
Table 1.2 Raw collected data that summarizes the weights of each of the 3 bananas for each
temperature, and the weight discrepancies for the 5-day experimental period.
This is the chart we used to keep track of the weight of each banana every single day for 5 days.
At the end of Day 5, we were able to calculate the total difference of weight from Day 1 to Day 5
that we can attribute to ethylene concentration.
Figure 2. Mean changes in weight versus temperature. The graph displays the relationship
between temperature (ºC) and mean change in weight (g). Mean values were calculated using
three bananas (ie. replicates) for each temperature. A trendline of best fit is shown with the R2
value being 0.964.
Figure 3: The 3 sets of bananas on Day 1, before adding them to their respective new
environments in the Fridge (4ºC), 25ºC incubator, and 40ºC incubator.
Figure 4: The 3 sets of bananas on Day 5, (the last Day).
We concluded the bananas in the fridge to be “C3” in the colour scale, the 25ºC incubated
bananas as between “C4” and “C5”, and the 40ºC incubated bananas as “C3”.
Discussion
In this study, the effect of temperature on banana ripening and ethylene concentration was
investigated for the purposes of increasing shelf life and slowing down browning. The largest
decrease in weight occurred for the bananas at the highest experimental temperature, 40ºC. This
indicates that the highest amount of ethylene gas was released in these bananas. The relationship
between mean weight discrepancy (ie. change in weight) and temperature was illustrated in a
scatter plot (Figure 2). There was a relatively strong positive correlation, with the R-squared
value being close to 1 (0.964), in that higher temperatures were associated with greater changes
in weight, and therefore greater concentrations of ethylene gas released.
In terms of the ripeness that we measured qualitatively, we found that the bananas at 25ºC
were more consistently “C4” (more yellow than green) on the colorimetric indicator. In other
words, they displayed the ideal yellow colour that we and other papers defined as “ripe” (Butola
et al., 2015). This also relates with what Moreno (2021) stated: “Bananas turn yellow when at
ripening temperatures below 30ºC”. On the last day of the experiment, we recorded the bananas
at 40ºC to have a “C3” colour (more green than yellow) referring to Figure 1. The overall colour
of the banana was greener, despite all the dark brown spots. From this, we can conclude that
although the bananas at 40ºC had many other physical properties that indicated ripening (eg. the
fact that they were the softest to touch, and had the most brown spots), they still did not display
the “most ripe” yellow colour of “C5” on Figure 1. One reason for this may be the greater
decrease in abundance of proteins involved in chloroplast function as temperature increases, also
suggesting that banana ripening is sensitive to high-temperature conditions in general (Du et al.,
2016). Chlorophyll, a pigment that gives the banana its green colour, is sensitive to mild thermal
stress and thus degrades as temperature increases, which may explain why the bananas at 40ºC
appeared the colour they were (Moreno, 2021).
In addition to ethylene concentration, we should also consider the possibility of other
factors and gases in the mix that contributed to the decrease in banana weight. As bananas ripen,
they undergo “enzymatic browning”, which is essentially when starches and complex sugars
break down into simple sugars (Hogeback). This process releases not only ethylene gas, but also
carbon dioxide, which is therefore why weight decreased. The breakdown of starches is also
what caused the bananas to become softer. Bananas also lose moisture (and weight) as they ripen
via another process called respiration. So from this, since they were the softest and lightest in
weight, we can conclude that bananas at higher temperatures (40ºC) had higher rates of starch
breakdown, respiration, and ethylene gas production (Ahmad et al., 2001).
In terms of the significance of this work, we conducted this experiment for various
reasons that can be applied to the real world. Firstly, we now have a better idea of the optimal
temperature to keep bananas at to increase their shelf life and slow down the ripening process,
which would be 25ºC in our experiment. There are environmental implications that are also
significant to note. Overripe or spoiled bananas are a major source of food waste, so by
conducting such an experiment and understanding the relationship between temperature and
ripening, we can also reduce the amount of food waste we produce. Lastly, very ripe bananas are
a crucial ingredient when baking banana bread. Therefore, we can use and apply knowledge from
this work in the development of banana products that may favour a faster ripening time like
banana bread. For the future, we can expand upon this study by testing other temperatures,
specifically a temperature range that is more narrow. For instance, we can test 5ºC, 10ºC, 15ºC,
and 20ºC to determine more precise effects of temperature on banana ripening and ethylene
concentrations.
Conclusion
According to the results and plotted data in Figure 2, we can conclude that our
hypothesis, “If the bananas are stored at a higher temperature (ie. 40ºC), they will be more ripe
at the end of 5 days and would have the least ethylene gas concentration” was not supported.
The 25ºC bananas were the most ripe after the 5 days, as it achieved the closest “C5” colour from
Figure 1, as we determined the bananas were in between “C4” and “C5”. The 40ºC bananas that
we predicted to be the most ripe and “C5”, ended up being more of a “C3”, due to some green
undertones present. The 40ºC bananas also ended up having the most ethylene gas
concentration, as it had the largest weight decrease from Day 1 to Day 5, with around 50.9g -
55.8g. Our hypothesis was not supported at the end of our project.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge and thank our BIOL 342 Lab professor, Dr. Celeste
Leander and the teaching team of BIOL 342 (Tessa Blanchard and Will Maciejowski) for the
help on developing our project and their support in assisting us with our questions through
Piazza, office hours, and the lab weeks. We would also like to acknowledge UBC for giving us
this opportunity to take the BIOL 342 lab, and by allowing us to conduct our labs in the
Biological Sciences Building. We recognize and thank the Coast Salish Nations of Musqueam,
Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish on whose traditional territories we live and learn in.
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