EFFECTS OF CHARCOAL IN THE STORABILITY OF LACATAN (Musaacuminata) BANANA

The study on "Effects of Charcoal in the Storability of Lacatan (Musa acuminata) Banana was conducted to determine if the use of charcoal has an effect on prolonging the shell life of banana, and to evaluate the sensory properties of banana. It was conducted at the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering College of Agriculture, Mindanao State University. A Randomize Complete Block Design (RCBD) and compared with Least Significant Difference (LSD) were used to determine the effects of size and weight of charcoal on banana. Complete Random Design (CRD) was used to determine the daily effects on banana treated and not treated with charcoal. The experiment was conducted for 8 days and on the 14th day, sensory evaluation was performed. Every operation started at 3pm in the afternoon, and pH and TSS was recorded. Each banana was stored on a box with a dimension of 15"x10"x9.5". The result shows that there was no significant difference on daily weight loss percentage and significant difference on daily TSS and pH between the bananas treated and not treated with charcoal. The effects on weight and sizes of charcoal was observed to have significant effect on percentage weight loss by the factor of weight of charcoal applied. The effects on weight and sizes of charcoal on pH and TSS was observed to have no significant difference on the factor of weight, sizes and the combination of weight and sizes of charcoal. Lastly, sensory evaluation was observed that treatment 3 has the highest rating for all the parameters considered while control has the lowest rating that signifies that charcoal has an effect on the storability and quality of banana.