Textural and biochemical changes of the banana trees fruits during maturation. Their influence on the fruit quality safeguarding and maturation control.

The best conservation of the initial quality of the banana trees fruits after harvest requires a full understanding of their process of maturation and senescence. Maturation is an irreversible phenomenon, highly coordinated, genetically programmed and involving a series of physiological, biochemical and organoleptic changes. Textural softening during ripening leads to adverse effects and spoilage upon storage. This process is influenced by ethylene, carbon dioxide, temperature and oxygen. The major classes of cell wall polysaccharides that undergo modifications during ripening are starch, pectins, cellulose and hemicelluloses. These modifications are allotted to the action of enzymes.