Jan 7 - Why do green bananas bought from the city markets turn bright yellow after a few hours? And later within a day, black blotches appear on the banana peel? The taste too is not that of fresh fruits. These are indications of chemical ripening, which has become a growing menace in the city, posing severe health hazards to the consumers.Besieged by the problem, the Assam State Agricultural Marketing Board has planned to set up an organic fruit ripening centre in the city.
“The Central Government has approved our proposal under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. The centre will come up within this financial year. The Board has decided to set up the centre at Ulubari,” Bulbul Hussain, Joint Chief Executive Officer (Tech) of the Board, told The Assam Tribune.
The centre would be used mostly for bananas, and if required, even for papayas. It would have a capacity to ripen 20,000 bananas daily and would be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore.
“If successful, we would replicate the model in other towns of the State like Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar etc.,” Hussain said.
The centre will have chambers to store fruits. Ethylene would be injected into the chambers to ripen the fruits.
Ethylene (C2H4, also known as ethene) is a gaseous organic compound that is the simplest of the alkene chemical structures (alkenes contain a carbon-carbon double bond). It is the most commercially produced organic compound in the world and is used in many industrial applications. Early examples of human utilisation of ethylene to enhance fruit ripening include the ancient Egyptian practice of gashing figs to enhance ripening responses.
The ethylene produced by the injured fruit tissue triggers a broader ripening response. Similarly, the ancient Chinese practice of burning incense in closed rooms with stored pears (ethylene is released as an incense combustion by-product) which stimulates ripening of the fruit.
When fruits are exposed to ethylene under controlled conditions, they will initiate their respiratory climateric pattern and ripen at a relatively uniform rate.
While ensuring uniform ripening, ethylene ripening also keeps intact the quality of the fruit.
Hussain said no electricity will be used at the centre and it will be run on biomass. The model of operating the centre is yet to be worked out.
A good chunk of bananas and other fruits which are sold in the city markets are reportedly ripened using calcium carbide. Use of carbide for ripening is prohibited by The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and action can be initiated under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1955 for any violation.
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