JOURNAL OF AGEETIIAL RESEARCH 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Vol. Ill Washington, D. C, December 15, 1914 No. 3 



CHANGES IN COMPOSITION OF PEEL AND PULP OF 

 RIPENING BANANAS 



By H. C. Gore 



Chemist in Charge, Fruit and Vegetable Utilization Laboratory , 

 Bureau of Chemistry 



INTRODUCTION 



In attempting to determine the effect of temperature on the rate of 

 respiration of the banana {Musa sapientum) , it was found that the rate 

 of respiration increased very rapidly during ripening(i3) ', as, indeed, had 

 been observ^ed by Gerber (12), and the bananas maintained themselves 

 during ripening at temperatures distinctly above that of their sur- 

 roundings, in consequence of the intensely active respiration. The 

 phenomenon of self -heating suggested the need of experiments in a cal- 

 orimeter to determine the amount of heat evolved in relation to carbon 

 dioxid formed and oxygen consumed. The necessity of accompanying 

 such studies with analyses of samples of the bananas under observation 

 led to the analytical work recorded in this paper. 



The chemical changes which occur in the banana during ripening have 

 been studied by Buignet (5); Corenwinder (8, 9, 10), Marcano and 

 Muntz (17); Ricciardi (20); Doherty (11); Colby (7); Gerber (12); Bal- 

 land (4); Atwater and Bryant (i); Chace, Tolman, and Munson (6); 

 Bailey (2, 3); Prinsen Geerligs (18); Tallarico (21); Jahkel (14); Yoshi- 

 mura (22); and Reich (19). The results have invariably been expressed 

 in terms of the percentage of the pulp of the fruit when analyzed, and 

 the data are, in consequence, on a constantly shifting basis, as the peel 

 continuously loses weight and the weight of the pulp steadily increases. 

 An accurate account of the chemical changes for use in exact biochem- 

 ical studies was therefore lacking. 



Four ripening experiments were made. In two experiments bunches 

 of green bananas were ripened in a large respiration calorimeter designed 

 for experiments with man. In the third and fourth experiments studies 

 were made, in a specially designed ripening chamber, of the uniformity 



1 Reference is made by number to " Literature cited, " pp. 202-203. 



Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. Ill, No. 3 



Dept. of Acriculture. Washington, D. C. Dec. 15, 1914 



(187) E-3 



