Quote:
Originally Posted by venturabananas
Chong, very cool. I didn't realize there were any Cavendish cultivars that stayed green even if force ripened like all the bananas we get in the US. I've picked totally green completely ripe Cavendish of some sort off a plant in the Bahamas, but I'd guess if you force ripened them with ethylene they'd have turned yellow.
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My Aunt was a banana wholesaler in Manila. When the shipload of bananas came in on Tuesday and Saturday, if there were not enough ripening bananas from the ship (they counted the by hand), they would expose anywhere from 1/4 to 1/3 of the shipment to ethylene gas (carbide prpdoct, very explosive!) for supply of restaurants and groceries. Only 1/8 of the shipment was Buņgulan, though. The biggest portion of the shipment was the Latundan (Apple Banana), followed by Lacatan, then Buņgulan, then Seņorita, then Morado. The last one, Red Banana, is the lowest because it's not as popular as the others. Though, personally, I think that the Morado is pretty close to Seņorita in taste. Maybe, it's just that they take too long to mature. I personally helped in putting some bananas in the "ripening chamber" and place the carbide nuggetts in the pan, then pour water slowly. My Aunt's suppliers were careful not to send ultra green fruits because when forced to ripen with ethylene gas, the skin may turn yellow, but the fruit will taste putrid. In any case, the Buņgulan never turned yellow. Though I must admit that they turned lighter green. The pictures that I posted showing a hand out of the plant is an actual picture of ripe fruit.