EFFECT OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS AS SOURCE OF ETHYLENE GAS ON THE RIPENING OF BANANA (Musa acuminata L.) var. LAKATAN

Freshly fruits undergo a natural stage of development know as ripening. This occurs when the fruit has ceased growing and is said to be mature. Every fruit has its own best eating quality upon natural ripening. But not all fruits are allowed to rippen on the plant. 'Lakatan is a popular dessert banana in the philippines. These are characterized by their aroma and sweet, firm texture when ripe. Typically, more expensive than other bananas, lakatans rank as some of the highest quality banana cultivars. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different materials as source for ethylene gas on the ripening of lakatan banana and performed at the storage room of the college of aggriculture, Mindanao State University- General Santos City Campus from April to May 2019. The study was arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with six treaments and replicated three times. The treaments used were: T1- control (no application). T2 -madre de cacao, T3 -ipil-ipil, T4 -neem leaves, T5 - rice straw and T6 -commercial ripening agent (ethephon). The study revealed that the used of the commercial ripening agent (ethephon) is better than the other treatments used. Some of the treaments failed to reach ripening throughout the duration of the study.