Banana Ripening Chamber & Cold Room: Everything You Need

Bananas have been one of the most consumed fruits in Nepal. These fruits need special handling in order to maintain their quality and texture. Banana ripening chambers and cold rooms are important in the proper handling of these fruits. In these chambers, temperature, humidity, and ethylene levels are controlled to ensure prolonged shelf life and uniform ripening. These chambers and rooms differ in terms of scale and automation. The right method of ripening and storage helps minimize losses, preserve fruit quality, and provide an efficient way to reach market demand.

In this blog, we provide information regarding what a banana ripening chamber is, its components, types, and best practices. Along with it, we also give insights about the step-wise process for banana ripening in the chamber, the role of the cold room in banana storage, and do cold room affects the nutrition value of bananas.

What Is a Banana Ripening Chamber?

A banana ripening chamber is a specialized, controlled room which is designed for the ripening of bananas safely after they have been harvested unripe. The chamber is an artificial ripening room that helps in the ripening process. You as a banana wholesaler should manage the exact banana ripening chamber temperature, humidity, ventilation, and ethylene gas inside the chamber for the ripening. By managing them properly, you can avoid spoiling, extend their shelf life, and maintain their quality and texture. Additionally, you can also enhance the flavour and sweetness, improve colour and appearance, and ensure that the bananas are ready for sale. 

What are the Components of a Banana Ripening Chamber?

The Bananas are harvested when they are still green. After harvesting, those fruits are kept inside the chamber to simulate and control the natural ripening process. There, you can find many components that help the ripening process. You may wonder, "What are the key components?" Some of the key components are as follows: 

• Insulated structure: The chamber shall be airtight and highly to keep internal conditions stable and prevent leakage of gas.
• Refrigeration system: It contains highly efficient refrigeration units and a powerful fan, which helps in managing the suitable temperature. Furthermore, it also helps in removing the heat that is produced by the ripening bananas. 
• Ethylene Generator: It produces a proper amount of ethylene gas that helps in ripening the bananas. 
• Humidity Control: The Humidifier and sensors regulate the precise moisture level that is required to keep the banana in good quality. 
• Control panel: It is an advanced system that is used for monitoring and adjusting the temperature, humidity, and gas level.  

Types of Banana Ripening Chambers

Banana ripening chambers are categorized into two types. They are based on automation grade and design/capacity. These types help you to choose the suitable chamber according to the production needs, budget, and desired level of control over the ripening process. The description of these two types are as follows: 

Based on automation grade

• Automatic: The automatic chamber contains many features, such as advanced digital control panels and analyzers, that automatically control the temperature, humidity, ethylene, and CO2 levels in real time. They provide accurate regulation for a uniform and superior ripening process.
• Semi-automatic: In the semi-automatic systems, the operators need to perform more manual monitoring and adjustment. Operators may need to add a ripening agent manually and should have a basic monitoring system to manage temperature, humidity, and ethylene levels.
• Manual/Traditional Methods: This method is performed outside the chamber by using the organic method. The traditional and organic methods are used in more general circumstances. By using the method in a regular environment, they lack control, which may lead to uneven ripening and increased weight loss. 

Based on capacity and design

• Mini/Small-Scale Chambers: Small-scale chambers are designed for sectors with lower volume of bananas, such as those of small farms or retailers.
• Walk-in/Modular Cold Rooms: These cold rooms provide adaptable and scalable solutions. This helps in enabling the adjustment according to the specific storage and ripening requirements. This room can be designed in different sizes to meet diverse operational requirements. 
• Industrial/Large-Scale Chambers: This chamber is mainly created for large-scale producers and distributors and is best for handling maximum efficiency and capacity. In industrial chambers, the centralized, high-efficiency refrigeration systems and robust construction materials are used, which help in maintaining optimal temperature, humidity, and quality during storage and ripening.

Step-by-Step Banana Ripening Process in a Chamber

There are different steps that are involved in the banana ripening process. By following these steps, you can ensure that the bananas ripen evenly while maintaining good quality and optimal freshness. The steps in the ripening process are as follows: 

• Step 1: Harvest and pre-cooling: At the first step, the bananas are harvested from the field when they are unripe. After that, they are pre-cooled in the cold room until the temperature reaches around 18°C (64°F) before ripening.
• Step 2: Loading and sealing the chamber: In this step, the unripe bananas are moved into the ripening chamber. The chamber should be insulated and airtight to maintain a precise temperature (around 15°C to 18°C). After moving into the chamber, the chamber is sealed so that the air, moisture, and gases cannot escape or enter. 
• Step 3: Initiating ripening with ethylene gas: Once the chamber is set at the appropriate temperature (around 15°C to 18°C) and humidity (90–95%), the ethylene gas is added to begin the ripening process. About 100-150 ppm ethylene gas is introduced into the chamber to maintain the gas for 12-24 hours. It is better to use an ethylene generator in order to spread the gas inside the chamber evenly.
• Step 4: Maintaining conditions and ventilation: After ethylene gas has been added to the chamber for 24 hours, it is then turned off. Then, the chamber is ventilated to remove the extra ethylene gas and carbon dioxide. The ventilation is done either by opening the door for 20 minutes or by running the fans every 12 hours. It is only done after the first 24 hours.
• Step 5: Holding and monitoring: The banana is stored inside the chamber for the next 3 to 4 days with carefully controlled temperature (15-20°C) and humidity (90-95%). This helps in the natural ripening of the banana by converting starch into sugar and altering the color. The temperature and humidity level that are set for the ripening process is consistently monitored because during this phase, the banana emits large amounts of heat. 
• Step 6: Post-ripening cooling: Once the banana ripens, the temperature inside the chamber is slowly reduced to around 4°C to 16°C (57°F to 61°F) to slow down the ripening process. By controlling the temperature, you can extend the shelf life of banana for transport and retail. 

Role of Cold Rooms in Banana Storage

Cold rooms play a vital role in banana storage. They help in slowing the ripening process, reducing spoilage, and maintaining the quality and freshness of the banana for a longer period of time. Furthermore, cold rooms not only extend the shelf life of bananas, but they also help in preserving their colour, texture, and nutritional value. Some of the roles in banana storage are as follows: 

• Slow down ripening: Once the banana has been given the ethylene gas, it keeps on ripening. The cold storage is used to slow down the ripening process.
• Extend shelf life: With the help of proper storage, the banana can extend its shelf life. The proper cold storage can help to keep the banana fresh for 2-3 weeks. This helps in giving more flexibility in transportation and marketing.
• Maintain quality: The cold room helps to preserve the firmness, color, taste, and aroma of bananas. It also prevents over-softening, shriveling, and darkening.
• Control disease and Decay: The cold room contains a very low temperature, which helps in inhibiting the growth of fungi and bacteria. This helps in reducing the chances of rotting. 
• Reduce Post-Harvest Losses: Keeping the bananas in the cold room can minimize the spoilage during storage, transport, and marketing.

Do Cold Rooms Affect the Nutritional Value of Bananas?

The cold room is important to manage the nutritional value of bananas. It uses the refrigeration system to maintain a neutral temperature throughout the process. By maintaining a consistent temperature (13°C to 14°C (55°F to 57°F)), you can preserve the nutritional value of bananas. If the refrigeration system is removed from the cold room, it is hard to maintain the accurate temperature as it cannot remove the heat from the cold room. As a result, the ripe banana loose its nutritional value and deteriorate in quality. Additionally, a cold room also helps to retain the essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that contribute to the nutritional value of the banana.

Best Practices for a Banana Ripening Chamber

For the full ripening of bananas, there are various practices you need to follow. By following the practices, the ripening efficiency can be improved and post-harvest losses can be reduced. Some of the best practices are enlisted below:

• Temperature control: The best ripening temperature, which lies between 4°C and 18°C, should be maintained during the process. Controlled ripening conditions can be attained by maintaining the temperature of the product, which helps to prevent the banana from spoilage. There should not be any huge fluctuation inside the chamber because it causes uneven ripening.
• Ethylene applications: It is important to use around 100-150 parts per million (ppm) ethylene gas for 24-48 hours for uniform ripening. You should also ensure that the chamber is sealed when the ethylene gas is being given. 
• Monitor Relative Humidity: Keep the humidity around 90-95% to prevent dehydration of the banana. Use the humidifier or misting system when the environment is dry.
• Ensure Proper Air Circulation: Install powerful fans that help in moving the air throughout the chamber for uniform distribution of air. You should not overload the chamber as this may restrict proper airflow.
• Use Clean and Sanitized Equipment: Remember that all surfaces, crates, and the chamber floors need to be regularly cleaned. If you clean the floor regularly, you can stop the banana from being affected by mold, bacteria, and cross-contamination.

Conclusion

Banana ripening chambers and cold rooms play an important role in maintaining quality, uniformity, and extending the shelf life of bananas. Depending on the scale and automation of both the chamber and the cold room, they help control the temperature, humidity, and ethylene levels. The small-scale chambers are best for farms and retailers, whereas the large-scale chambers are designed for large-scale producers and distributors. By choosing the ideal types of banana ripening chambers and cold room, you can minimize spoilage, enhance fruit quality, and deliver bananas that are able to meet market standards consistently.

In this blog, we provided information about what a banana ripening chamber is, its components, types, and best practices. Along with it, we have also given insights regarding the step-wise process for banana ripening in the chamber, the role of the cold room in banana storage, and do cold room affects the nutrition value of bananas. For further information regarding cold storage rooms, feel free to check out some other blogs. Additionally, if you are in need of a cold storage room, contact Nepcool - one of the best cold storage room manufacturers in Nepal. 

FAQ on Banana Ripening Chamber 

What chemical makes bananas ripen faster?

The chemical that makes bananas ripen faster is ethylene (C2H4). This chemical acts as a natural plant hormone that triggers the ripening process by softening the fruit, increasing sugar content, and turning the peel from green to yellow.

How to make a banana ripening chamber?

A standard banana ripening chamber consists of many things. Some of them include: 

• Electrical control panel.
• Airtight, insulated ripening chamber.
• Refrigeration system