Textural changes of plantain (Musa paradisiaca) finger regions during maturity

Abstract

The textural properties of plantain (Musa paradisiaca Linn.) finger was investigated in this study. These textural properties (firmness, springiness, adhesiveness, chewiness, stringiness, fracturability, and gumminess) of the plantain fingers were measured using the Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBS) method. The plantain fingers were analyzed at three maturity stages (stage 5, 6 and 7) and three-finger regions (stalk, mid and blossom). Results obtained from the study showed that ripening (maturity) stage had significant (P ≤0.05) effect on all the textural properties investigated. At each maturity stage, the finger’s stalk region had the highest textural properties values, when compared to the mid and blossom regions. The results further depict that as ripening progressed, all the textural properties declined, except the adhesiveness which showed marginal increment. From the results, the average fracturability declined from 11.70 N at stage 5 to 5.22 N at stage 7of ripening, while the average firmness decreased from 12.21 N to 5.7 N during ripening. The average stringiness of the plantain fingers decreased significantly from 18.92 N to 17.77 N during ripening. The results obtained from this research would help in planning plantain bunch harvesting, handling, and processing operations efficiently.