To Study Chemical

Reactions during
Ripening of
Banana
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With folded hands and from the core of my heart, I want to thank my Chemistry

teacher _____________________________ and Lab Assistant Sir

____________for their guidance and encouragement throughout the course of

project completion on the topic:

‘Study of Chemical Reactions during Ripening of Banana’

Without their moral support and guidance, I wouldn’t have been able to complete

this project. With special thanks to our Principal Sir ______________________.

 CERTIFICATE

THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT SACHIET KAPUR

OF CLASS: XII C

CLASS ROLL NO.:

BOARD ROLL NO.:

HAS COMPLETED THE PROJECT UNDER MY SUPERVISION

PGT CHEMISTRY LAB ASSISTANT

 INDEX
S. No. Topic

1. Aim

2. Material Required

3. Introduction

4. Uses of Banana

5. Production

6. Areas Producing Bananas

7. General Ripening Mechanism

8. Ripening of Banana

9. Starch – Chemical Test

10. Sugars – Chemical Test

11. Proteins – Chemical Test

12. Procedure

13. Observation Table

14. Results

15. Precautions

16. Bibliography
 AIM

To study chemical changes during ripening of banana

Material Required
 3 different samples of banana: one raw, one semi ripe and one fully ripened

banana.

 Fehling Solution A

 Fehling Solution B

 Iodine

 Benedicts Solution

 Protein Solution

 Test Tubes

 Test Tube stand

 Test tube holder

 Bunsen Burner

 Dropper

 Wash Bottle

 Glass Rod

 Concentrated HNO3

 Ammonia Solution
 INTRODUCTION
A Banana is an edible fruit, botanically a berry founded by several kinds of large

herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. The fruit is variable in size, colour

and firmness, but is usually elongated are curved, with soft fresh rich in starch

covered with a rind which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe.

The fruit has been described as a “Leathery berry”. There is a protective outer

layer (a peel or skin) with numerous long, thin strings which run lengthwise

between the skin and the edible inner portion. Bananas are the most popular fruit

in the world. It is believed that there are almost 1000 varieties of bananas in the

world, subdivided in 50 groups. The most commonly known banana is the

Cavendish variety, which is the one produced for export markets. …..

USES OF BANANA
1. FRUIT :

Bananas contain about 74% water, 23% carbohydrate, 1% protein and

0.5% fat. A 4 – owner banana without the peer is a good source of vitamin

B – 6, potassium and fiber.

Bananas constitute a major staple food crop for millions of people in

developing countries. Banana fruit may be eaten raw or as a cooked

vegetable. The fruit can also be processed for a number of food products.

Ripe fruits can be pulped for puree for use in a variety of products including

ice – cream, yogurt, cake, bread, nectar and baby food.

2. FIBER :

The banana plant has long been a source of fiber for high quality textiles. In

Japan, banana cultivation for clothing and household use dates back to at

least the 13th century. In Nepalese system, the trunk in harvest instead, and

small pieces are subjects instead to a softening process, mechanical fiber

extraction, beaching and drying.

3. LEAVES :

Banana leaves are large, flexible and waterproof. They are often used as

ecologically friendly disposable food containers or as ‘plates’ in South Asia

and several Southeast Asian countries. They often serve as a wrapping for

grilling food. The leaves contain the juices, protect food from burning and

add a subtle flavour.

4. PAPER :
Banana fiber is used in the production of banana paper. Banana paper is

made from two different parts: the bark of the banana plant, mainly used for

artistic purposes or from the fibers of the stem and non – usable fruits. The

paper is neither handmade or by industrial process.

 PRODCUTION
The banana is perennial plant that replaces itself. Bananas do not grow from a

seed but from a bulb or rhizome. The time between planting a banana plant and
the harvest of the banana bunch is from 9 to 12 months. Bananas are grown in

tropical regions where the average temperature is 80 F (27 C) and the yearly

rainfall is between 78 and 98 inches. They required moist soil with good drainage.

In fact, most bananas exported are grown within 30 degrees either side of the

equator. Banana growing is, in general, labour intensive, involving clearing of

jungle growth, propping of the plants to counter bending from the weight of

growing fruit, and irrigation in some areas. As well as intensive use of pesticides,

the conventional process involves covering banana bunches with polythene bags to

protect them……..
AREAS PRODUCING BANANAS

Statistics on the production and export of bananas and plantains are available

from the Food and Agriculture Organization

The top 4 procedures of banana in the world are:

(1) India

(2) China

(3) Uganda

(4) Philippines

The 2012 statistics show that India red the world in banana production,

producing around 18% of the worldwide crop of 139 million metric tons. China

was the next largest producer with around 8% of the worldwide crop. It is

followed by Uganda and Philippines, each contributing around 7% of the total

crop produced in the world.

GENERAL RIPENING MECHANISM

The fruit becomes sweeter as the starches are converted into simple sugars by

analyses. The fruit changes from green to colourful as the chlorophyll

(fruit = green) is broken down by hydrolases revealing anthocyanins

(fruit = coloured). The fruit becomes less tart as the acids are converted to neutral

molecules by kinases. The fruit becomes softer as the amount of pectin is lessened

by pectinases. And the fruit becomes fragrant as the large organics are converted

to volatile aromatic compounds by hydrolyses.

The one molecule that is responsible for the entire. Fruit Ripening process is

Ethylene. Ethylene is a ripening hormone – a chemical substance produced by

fruits with the specific biological action of acceleration, the normal process of fruit

maturation and senescence (dying or doing into dormancy).

RIPENING OF BANANA
Bananas are one of the most popular fresh fruit in the world. The cultivation of

banana and plantains in tropical America and the Caribbean countries is important,

not only because they are part of the regional diet, but also because of their

importance to the economics of the producing countries.

The chemical changes which starch – containing fruits undergo incidental to their

ripening processes have been the subject of numerous studies. A difference exists

between sugars of fruit like the banana according as they are ripened after picking

or allowed to undergo ripening on the tree, more sucrose and less invert sugar

being present in the latter case. The conspicuous change in the carbohydrates

consists in a gradual transformation of starch into soluble carbohydrates

accompanied by a marked decrease in the total carbohydrate content of the

pulp…..
 STARCH
Starch (or called amylum) is a carbohydrates consisting of a large number of

glucose units joined by glycoside linkages. This polysaccharide is produced by

most green plants as an energy store. It consists of 2 components: amylose and

amylopectin. Amylose is water soluble and is a long unbranched chain with 200

– 100 X – D – (+) – glucose units held by C 1 – C4 glycosidic linkage. Amylopectin

(80 – 85% of starch) is insoluble in water and is branched, where branching

occurs by C1 – C6 glycosidic linkage.

CHEMICAL TESTS:

Iodine solution is used to test for starch, a dark blue colour indicates the starch.

Iodine (I3- and I5- ions) fits inside the coils of amylose, the charge transfers

between the iodine and the starch, and the energy level spacings in the resulting

complex correspond to absorption spectrum in visible light region.

 SUGARS
Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short chain, soluble carbohydrates,

composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Simple sugars are called

monosaccharides and include glucose, fructose and galactose. The table or

granulated sugar used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. Sucrose hydrolyses

into fructose and glucose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides

CHEMICAL TESTS :

A number of tests are used as chemical tests for sugars: Benedict’s test, Fehling’s

test etc. To test for the presence of monosaccharides and reducing disaccharide,

Benedict’s reagent or Fehling’s solution is added. Fehling’s solution is prepared by

combing two separate solutions, known as Fehling’s A and Fehling’s B. Cu² +

(cupric ions) present in the reagents are reduced to Cu + (cuprous ions) which get

precipitated as insoluble red copper (I) oxide  Cu2O.

 PROTEINS

Proteins are the most abundant biomolecules of the living system, chief sources of

proteins are milk, cheese, pulses, peanuts, fish, meat, etc. They occur in every

part of the body and form the fundamental basis of structure and functions of life.

Proteins and polymer chains made of amino acids linked together by peptide

bonds. Amino acids contains amino (-NH2) and carboxyl (-COOH) functional

groups.

CHEMCIAL TESTS:

The Xanthoproteic test is a qualitative test, which can be used to determine the

presence or absence of proteins. Using concentrated nitric acid, the test gives

positive result in those proteins with amino acids carrying aromatic groups

(especially Tyrosine). If the test is positive, the proof is neutralized with an alkali,

turning dark yellow color is due to Xanthoproteic acid formed to nitration of amino

acids….
 PROCEDURE

Three types of banana were taken. One raw, second is half ripen and third is fully

ripen. All of them were taken in different test tubes and presence of starch, sugar

and protein was tests in them.

Mark the test tubes as A, B and C respectively.

 TEST FOR STARCH :

Add Iodine – KI solution or reagent to the solution directly in the test tube. A

blue – black colour results if starch is present, then the colour will stay

orange or yellow.

 TEST FOR SUGARS :

To test for the presence of reducing sugars in food, the food sample is

dissolved in water and about 5 ml of the sample solution is added to 5 ml of

Benedict’s reagent or a mixture of Fehlings Solution A and Fehlings Solution

B. The mixture is then placed in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes and any

precipitate formed is recorded as a positive, test or result for the presence of

reducing sugars in the food.

 TEST FOR PROTEINS :

To test the protein, we take 2 ml of extract in a test tube and add 2 – 3

drops of concentrated HNO3 to it. Call the solution and dilute it with water

and add a few drops of ammonia solution slowly to it.

 OBSERVTION TABLE

Test Contents With With With Xanthoproteic

Tube Iodine Benedicts Fehling’s Test
Solution Solution Solution
Raw Banana Blue – Black No colour No colour Yellow
A.
Colour precipitate
Semi ripened Blue – Black Reddish Reddish Yellow
B. Banana colour Yellowish Yellowish precipitate
precipitate precipitate
Fully ripened No colour Reddish Reddish No change
C. Banana Yellowish Yellowish
precipitate precipitate
RESULT :

 Raw banana contains starch, protein but not sugar.

 Half ripen banana contains starch, sugar as well as protein.

 Fully ripen banana contains sugar but not starch and protein.
 PRECAUTIONS

1) Handle concentrated nitric acid and other chemicals with care.

2) Boiling and heating should be done carefully.

3) Use chemicals and reagents judiciously.

4) Test tubes and beakers should be handled with care so as to not

break them.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 www.google.com

 www.wikipedia.com

 Pradeep’s Lab Manual

 Together with Botany

 Comprehensive Lab Manual

 www.sciencebuddies.org.