Banana Degradation Rates at Various Temperatures

Shazad Outar

City College

Abstract

This lab explores how the temperature in which a banana is stored can affect how the most effective method of storage. The experiment was done with three store bought bananas in the course of four days. The result was freezing, and refrigerating were ineffective for the storage of the bananas in comparison to room temperature.

Introduction

Bananas are common fruits that change color as they ripen and have a short shelf life. Low temperature storage is often used for the storage of fruits however bananas can be affected by chilling injury at storage temperatures below 13^OC (Journal of Proteomics, 2018).  

The purpose of this experiment was to answer the question of, “How effective are freezing and refrigeration for preserving bananas in comparison to the degradation rate under room temperature?”. The hypothesis of the experiment was that refrigeration and freezing would the more effective at slowing down the degradation levels of the bananas because of the effects that refrigeration and freezing have on other fruits like bananas.

Materials

• Three yellow bananas
• One freezer
• One refrigerator
• (add anything missing at the end)

Procedure

Three yellow bananas of the same bunch were bought. Pictures were taken of each of the bananas on both sides to aid in the recording of data. Place one banana on a kitchen countertop as the control to represent average conditions. Place another in a refrigerator and place the last in a freezer with these acting as the variables. The bananas were allowed four days to degrade. Following this, pictures were taken of the bananas.

Results

Initially the three bananas were all yellow with a few brown spots. After the four-day period major changes occurred in the bananas. The banana that was left on the kitchen counter, the control, was almost completely brown with yellow still in the top and bottom portion as can be seen in figure 2. The banana that was left in the refrigerator, variable 1, was completely brown with many more black spots as can seen in figure 3. The banana that was left in the freezer, variable 2, was mostly brown with yellow and black spots as can be seen in figure 4.

Discussion

The results of this experiment do not support the experimental hypothesis that the refrigeration and freezing would be the best methods for slowing down degradation levels of the bananas. A potential reason for this is the effects of chilling injuries that were mentioned in the introduction that bananas face in low temperatures.

In addition, the freezer and refrigerator were not isolated, they were opened letting cold air out throughout the duration of the experiment. Also, the bananas were not perfect when they were bought due to them being in the store for an unknown amount of time and the bananas already had imperfections at the start of the experiment.

The final result that can be seen about the effectiveness of freezing and refrigeration as compared to normal room temperature for the storage of bananas is; room temperature is more effective for the storage of bananas when compared to freezing and refrigerating.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the result is room temperature storage of bananas is more effective than freezing or refrigeration storage of bananas. For future study this experiment could be replicated exactly to verify the results and to improve the experiment different variations types of bananas can be tested. Such as different brands of bananas like Dole food company and Del Monte foods bananas.

Figures

Figure 1: Bananas initially, taken by Shazad Outar

Figure 2: Banana left on a kitchen counter after four days, taken by Shazad Outar

Figure 3: Banana left in the refrigerator after four days, taken by Shazad Outar

Figure 4: Banana left in the freezer after four days, taken by Shazad Outar

Bibliography

• Li, T., Yun, Z., Wu, Q., Zhang, Z., Liu, S., Shi, X., …Jiang, Y. (2018). Proteomic profiling of 24-epibrassinolide-induced chilling tolerance in harvested banana fruit. Journal of Proteomics, 187, 1. Retrieved from https://link-galegroup-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A551125502/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=42a207e7