Search

To determine the response of banana to boron (B) fertilization, two field experiments (main and a confirmatory trial) were conducted during 2018 and 2019 seasons in B deficient soils (Typic Rhodustalf) of Theni district, Tamil Nadu, India. The treatments consisted of soil and foliar application of boron replicated thrice in a randomized block design using banana cv. Nendran as the test crop. The results of field experiments revealed that banana plants responded well to soil and foliar application of B compared to control (recommended NPK alone). Among the treatments, soil application of 10 g borax plant−1 each at 3rd, 5th and 7th month after planting (MAP) in combination with recommended NPK in B deficient soils increased the availability of B in soil, its uptake by plants and also B fractions in soils than the rest of the treatments which ultimately resulted in an increase in pseudostem height, pseudostem girth, leaf area index, chlorophyll, and dry matter production. Similarly, soil application of boron enhanced finger length, finger girth, individual finger weight, and bunch weight of banana and the cumulative effect of these yield attributes favorably increased the fruit yield of banana (33.85 t/ha), which was 25% higher than control. Banana fruit quality traits, namely, total soluble solids, total sugar, ascorbic acid, and starch content, were also favorably influenced by B application. Thus, the results clearly indicated that soil applied B recorded comparatively higher banana yield than foliar application and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bananas are one of the most common energy yielding fruits, and also a nutritional source for human health. In this study, low-temperature vacuum drying was applied to preserve banana because this method offers a low nutrient loss, a decrease in drying time leading to low energy cost, and the low moisture content preventing products from microbial spoilage. Four mathematical models were built, and a multi-objective optimization problem was established for the drying process. The restricted area method with R*(Z) optimal combination criterion was used to optimize for the drying mode of banana including temperature of 52.76 oC, pressure of 0.006 mmHg and drying time of 13.94 hours. Experimental results showed that the energy consumption was 3.96 kWh/kg, the residual water content was 3.64 %, the vitamin C loss was 3.27 % and the maximum rehydration capacity was 95.17 %, which convinced that dried bananas had achieved a minimum cost, the best quality, and a long-term storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted during two successive seasons (2016/2017 first ratoon and 2017/2018 second ratoon) of Williams banana plants. The plants grown in a private banana orchard, where clay loam soil under flood irrigation system, at 3.5x3.5m apart located at Nakada district, Quena Governorate, Egypt. Forty eight stools each containing three plants were chosen to evaluate the effect of yeast applied as soil drench and spraying ascorbic acid (V.C) on growth, yield and fruit quality. These treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design in split plot arrangement with three replicates. The obtained results could be summarized as follows. Ascorbic acid spraying significantly increased the length and circumference of pseudostem, leaf area and total leaf area/plant as well as percentage of N, P and K of leaves compared to unsprayed ones. Also, these treatments significantly increased the yield components and improved the fruit quality compared to unsprayed ones. Yeast application was very effective in enhancing all growth aspects, yield and fruit characteristics compared to untreated ones. All combinations of ascorbic acid spraying on the yeast treated plants resulted in a significant increament in all growth aspects, yield components and fruit quality as compared to check treatments. The best results regarding the growth and fruiting were obtained with ascorbic acid spraying (at 200 ppm) accompanied with yeast application (at 40 g/plant) compared to other tested treatments. It is evident from the foregoing results that the application yeast at 40 g/plant and ascorbic acid at 200 ppm application four times during growth season (April, June, August & October), singly or in combination improved the growth and yield of Williams banana plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]