Agromisa 
Interdev Agroalimentaire  

Smoke application for induced ripening of bananas

	Type de fiche	Expériences/Etudes de cas
	Date(s) de l’expérience	2000
	Mise en œuvre	Agromisa(Pays Bas)
	
	Zone géographique	Afrique - Afrique sub-saharienne - Afrique de l'Ouest; Cameroun; South-west Province
	Mots clés	BANANE PLANTAIN

	Public(s) cible(s)	faremrs and members of the common initiative group

Contexte
A small co-operative in Cameroon wanted to market bananas, but there is no demand for unripe bananas. Natural ripening only happens in the rainy season. If the fruits would be ripe before the rainy season, they could fetc a high price
Problématique / Objectifs
Smoke contains ethylene, which acts as a ripening hormone of fruits. Once the natural ripening process is triggered, the fruits themselves continue to produce sufficient ethylene to continue the ripening process
Description/Mise en oeuvre
Banana hands are put in containers (open ended oil drums), covered with banana straw. Smoke could be generated by burning straw in a small can filled with compacted straw and lit. Somebody should blow through a hole in the can and direct the smoke into the drum. Be sure that smoke is well spread in the drum, after which the drum is covered by a gunny sack. Only 24 hours later the green bananas are yellow and ripe for consumption. This is a method frequently applied in India and other regions by producers and distributors of fixed amounts of daily demands.
Enseignements
Key factors

Preparing a smoking pot, stiffly filled with strawOld oil drums or other containers that can contain the preferred quantity of bananas for ripening. 
Transport to a retail market immediately after processing

Auteur : Rob Witte
Saisie le : 20/12/2001
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