A scientist the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UN) has found bananas and plantains ripen at different rates depending on the color of the bags they are packed in.

Ivón Andrea Ussa Leal studied the fruit's postharvest quality under normal conditions of temperature and relative humidity, testing metrics such as total soluble solids, sugar levels, skin color, diameter, length and weight loss in four day intervals.

"The objective of this experiment was to study the effect of the influence of bag color on the postharvest performance of fruits, from the banana variety Grand Nain [Cavendish] and the Dominico-Hartón plantain variety," he said in a release.

The study found that sky blue, milky green and transparent bags sped up the ripening process; sky blue bags led to the highest sugar levels, while transparent bags caused the  fastest ripening with the highest glucose and fructose content in the fruit.

In contrast, some bag colors slowed down the process.

"White and yellow packs delayed the ripening processes of plantains and bananas stored at room temperature compared to the control fruits that were not packed," Ussa Leal said.

The experiment's design included 10 bag colors, three repetitions in five fruit per bag.

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons, 24oranges.nl

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