Journal of Food Engineering 26 (1995) 369.

-378
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Research Note

Physical and Mechanical Properties of Green Banana

(Muss paradisiaca) Fruit

R. P. Kachru,” Nachiket Kotwaliwale & D. Balasubramanian

Division of Post Harvest Engineering, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering,

Bhopal (MP) 462038, India

(Received 20 April 1994; revised version received 9 August 1994;

accepted 13 September 1994)

ABSTRACT

The physical and mechanical properties of two varieties of green

banana fruit, namely, Dwarf Scavendish and Nendran, were
determined, The average pulp and peel moisture content were 264.17%
(db) and 666.28% (db), respectively for Dwarf Scavendish and
153.39% (db) and 516.41% (db), respectively for Nendran. At these
average moisture contents, the average pulp to peel ratios were I .39 and
2.32, and peel thickness were 3.65 mm and 2.95 mm, respectively. The
maximum diameter of fruit without peel was 23.34 mm and 37.08 mm,
and average pulp specific gravity was 0.993 and 1 .I 10, respectively for
the two varieties. The maximum effective length and width of the
banana pulp resting at its most stable position was observed to be 137.0
mm and 66.5 mm, respectively for Dwarf Scavendish and 194.5 mm
and 50.0 mm, respectively for Nendran.
The maximum load required to cut a cross-sectional slice of pulp
was 22.4 N and 28.2 N for the two varieties, respectively. Maximum
energy of 686.81 J/m’ for Dwarf Scavendish and 724.46 J/m2 for
Nendran was required to cut a slice of the fruit. The banana kept in a
convex position required the most energy to cut, whereas the plain
position was observed to be the best position vis-kvis the energy
requirement and consumer preference of chip shape.

*Present address: Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Bhawan, New

Delhi 110001, India.
370 R. f! Kachru, N. Kotwaliwale,D. Bafasubramanian

INTRODUCTION

Banana (Muss parudisiaca) is consumed directly as raw, ripe fruit or

processed into pulp-liquid fruit, canned slice, deep-fried chips, toffees, fruit
bars, brandy, etc. Deep-fried chips of raw as well as ripe banana are a
popular snack food in southern India. At present, the chips are made by
hand peeling raw banana and slicing the pulp portion in a wooden platform
type slicer with mild steel blades and then deep frying in oil. The method is
cumbersome, unhygienic and does not produce chips of uniform thickness.
Besides it may inflict injury to the operator while slicing. To this effect,
there is a need to develop a machine which would enhance the capacity and
reduce drudgery in making the chips.
The design of the machine is to be based on the physical and mechanical
properties of raw (green) banana fruit. For making chips of green banana
fruit, steel strings are proposed for cutting the fruit. For this, the physical
and mechanical properties of banana fruit are required for the selection of
size of the steel strings and design of the various parts of the machinery.
The objectives of the study were to find the physical properties, namely,
size, shape, peel thickness, specific gravity, moisture content, physical
constituents (pulp to peel ratio), and mechanical properties, such as total
cutting energy, energy requirement per unit area of cut, and maximum load
for cutting of the fruit pulp using steel string as a cutting tool.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fully mature, unripe (green) bananas of the Dwarf Scavendish and Nendran
varieties were procured from Bhopal and Coimbatore markets, respectively.
The bananas were separated visually into four groups according to their size.
Four bananas were chosen from each group for the determination of
physical constituents and properties. The peel and pulp were weighed
separately for individual bananas to determine the pulp to peel ratio.
The moisture content was determined by placing 35-4-O mm thick
banana slices with and without peel in a single layer, in an aluminium dish
in a hot air oven, at 130f 1°C for 1.5 h (Rameshbabu & Nayak, 1993).
The specific gravity of banana was determined by using the toluene
displacement method (Mohsenin, 1980). Specific gravity was measured at
three different locations in the fruit, i.e. top, middle and tail end of the fruit
(Fig. 1). The top is defined as the end of the fruit which was attached to the
plant.
The physical properties, size and peel thickness were determined using
Vernier calipers having a least count of 0.05 mm. The diameter of the
banana with and without peel were recorded at six planes of cut along the
longitudinal axis of the fruit, two planes falling in each of the top, middle
and tail end of the fruit (Fig. 1). At each plane of cut (Dl-D6), the
diameter was measured at four places.
The shape of the banana with and without peel was plotted keeping the
fruit resting on its most stable position and then the effective length and
width were measured (Fig. 1). Stainless steel string was used for banana
slicing as proposed for the machine. For proper size selection of the wire,
 Physical and mechanical properties of green banana jkuit

(a) with peel (b) without peel

Fig. 1. Longitudinal section of banana fruit: (a) with peel; (b) without peel.

the ultimate strength of the wire was determined by using an Instron

universal testing machine (model no. 1185). The mechanical properties of
raw banana fruit were measured while cutting under shear with the stainless
steel string in the Instron machine. For this purpose, a special fixture for
attaching to the load cell of the Instron machine was designed and
fabricated. This kept the stainless steel string taut while shearing through
the banana. The load cell of Instron was calibrated to a full graph scale of
200 N. The crosshead speed was fixed at 10 mm/min.
The sample fruit was peeled manually and the pulp portion was kept on
the cutting platform in three different positions, i.e. convex, concave and
plain, for the Dwarf Scavendish variety. Convex is_ the position when the
outer curved side of the fruit is facing the load cell while the concave
position is when the inner curved (concave) side of the fruit is facing the
compressive load (Fig. 1). Plain is the position when the fruit is resting on
its side in the most stable position. Sample fruit at each position were cut
under the load at six different locations (Fig. 1). However, the banana of
Nendran variety was kept in only the plain position because it was observed
that the slices at the top and tail ends would produce oval shaped slices in
the convex and concave position. This shape is undesirable from the
consumer’s point of view as round chips are preferred. Cuts were performed
at three places, i.e. top, middle and tail end. The test was performed with
three replications.
372 R. P Kachru, N. Kotwaliwale, D. Balasubramanian

The load against depth of cut was recorded continuously. After shearing
of the banana pulp was complete, the plane of cut was plotted on paper and
its area was determined by using a graphical method so that mechanical data
per unit area of cut could be determined.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The physical constituents of banana fruit as a per cent weight of whole fruit
and the pulp-peel ratio are reported in Table 1. The pulp to peel ratio for
Dwarf Scavendish variety of banana varies between 1.18 and 159 with an
average value of l-39 at a moisture content of 264.17% (db) and 666.28%
(db) of pulp and peel, respectively. These values for the Nendran variety
were 2.05 and 2.61, respectively with an average of 2.32 at a pulp moisture
content of 153.39% (db) and peel moisture content of 516.41% (db).
The peel thickness was measured for both the varieties at the peel
moisture content of 666.28% (db) and 516.41% (db) for Dwarf Scavendish
and Nendran varieties, respectively. For the Dwarf Scavendish variety, peel
thickness varied from 3.38 mm to 4.48 mm, the average being 3.65 mm. For
the Nendran variety, these values were found to be 2.55 mm and 3.55 mm,
respectively, with an average of 2.95 mm. The banana peel is formed by 3-5
longitudinal planes and the joint of these planes forms a ridge. The
thickness of peel is more at these ridges than other places. Figure 2 shows
the peel planes, ridges and typical cross-section of raw banana fruit of both
varieties.
Table 2 shows the range of average diameter at various planes of cut of
the banana fruit with and without peel, for both the tested varieties. It can
be seen that the diameter of fruit is less at both the ends and maximum in
the middle portion. The maximum and minimum observed diameters for
Dwarf Scavendish and Nendran banana with peel were 30.86 mm, 18.44 and

TABLE 1
Constituents of Banana Fruit

tiriety Total fiuit Pulp Peel Moisture Pulplpeel

weight of (%) (%) content % ratio
single fruit (db)
fd
Pulp Peel

Dwarf Scavendish
Average 89.69 58.10 41.90 245.7 669.8 1.39
Maximum 97.84 61.35 4577 252.4 708.4 1.59
Minimum 79.97 54.23 38.65 239.0 599.8 1.18
Standard deviation 5.15 2.24 2.24 0.13
Nendran
Average 126.16 69.77 30.23 154,l 516.4 2.32
Maximum 201.43 72.32 32.78 168.6 542.2 2.61
Minimum 76.25 67.25 27.68 145-l 486.2 2-05
Standard deviation 38.77 l-65 l-65 0.18
 Physical and mechanical properties of green banana fruit 373

(0 (ii)
Three planes (Dwarf Scavendish) Five planes (Dwarf Scavendisb)

3.50 mm

(iii) (iv)
Four planes (Nendran) Four planes (Nendran)

Fig. 2. Typical cross-section (X-X’ of Fig. I) of banana fruit showing peel and pulp
portion.

40.86 mm, 17.01 mm, respectively. These values for the fruit without peel
are 23.34 mm, 15.19 mm and 37.08 mm, 11.76 mm, respectively (Table 2).
Table 3 gives the specific gravity of various parts of banana fruit, peel and
pulp. It is evident, that the pulp portion has the maximum specific gravity
for both varieties of banana. The peel of Dwarf Scavendish banana has a
higher specific gravity (0.943) than the whole fruit (0.933) containing peel
and pulp. This may be because of the presence of air voids in between peel
and pulp in this particular variety. However, the peel of Nendran banana
has a lower specific gravity (O-948) than the whole fruit (1.005). It was also
found that the middle part of the fruit has a higher specific gravity than its
top and tail ends, because of its higher moisture content than the other two
parts (Table 3).
A typical graphical output from the universal testing machine
representing load against the depth of cut is shown in Fig. 3. The average,
maximum and minimum values (and their standard deviations) of maximum
374 R. F Kachru, N. Kotwaliwale, D. Balasubramanian

TABLE2
Diameter of Banana Fruit at Various Planes of Cut

Variety Condition
(E) (tfz, (rz, (::) (rz) (Lz)

Dwarf With peel

Scavendish Average 2451 29.46 30.24 29.66 28.36 22.94
Maximum 27.18 31.01 30.86 30.60 29.21 25.68
Minimum 18.44 27.53 28.76 28.05 27.06 18.74
Standard deviation 2.10 0.93 0.56 0.76 0.68 1.78
Without peel
Average 17.16 21.54 22.23 21.95 20.82 16.22
Maximum 20.54 22.20 23.13 23.34 22.66 19.56
Minimum 15.91 20.70 20.79 19.88 18.43 12.84
Standard deviation 1.37 0.49 0.80 0.95 1.08 1.65
Nendran With peel
Average 21.97 31.71 35.77 36.00 33.10
Maximum 27.68 38.25 40.86 40.86 39.10
Minimum 17.01 28.00 32.11 29.20 24.01
Standard deviation 2.99 2.75 2.97 3.25 4.55
Without peel
Average 18.15 27.53 30.44 30.85 2891
Maximum 22.53 32.58 35.38 37.08 36.14
Minimum 14.41 23.15 26.03 26.83 19.66
Standard deviation 2.42 2.88 2.81 3.00 4.27

*Refer to Fig. 1.

TABLE 3
Specific Gravity of Banana Fruit

Variety Constituent Sample Moisture Specific Average

position content, gravity specific
(end) in % (db) gravity
fruit

Dwarf Whole fruit Top 338.6 0.896 0.933

Scavendish (peel + pulp) Middle 356.0 0.982
Tail 349.6 0.962
Peel only Top 599.8 0.868 0.943
Middle 708.4 1.007
Tail 701.3 0.954
Pulp only Top 239.0 0.950 0.993
Middle 252.4 1.030
Tail 245.7 0.999
Nendran Whole- fruit Top 329.7 1.030 1.005
(peel + pulp) Middle 341.4 1.006
Tail 308.7 0.980
Peel only Top 520.8 0.931 0.948
Middle 542.2 0.991
Tail 486.2 0.921
Pulp only Top 148.5 1.120 1.110
Middle 168.6 1.150
Tail 145.1 1,060
 Physical and mechanical properties of green banana fruit 375

I Top

I I I I
i ’ i I
4 I I
I I ,

I
i i i 4 I
I

Middle
--U
I I
I
Middle

i I i ’
i 1i i ’
j
i i i %
I i

1 Tail

I I I

I 1 , I

16
8 8 16 24 32
Load, N Load, N
(Var. Dwarf Scavendish) (Var. Nendran)

Fig. 3. Graphical output by lnstron machine for load vs. depth of cut in banana fruit
pulp: (a) Dwarf Scavendish; (h) Nendran.

load, total energy required for cut, and energy requirement per unit area of
cut are reported in Table 4. The maximum load required for cutting the
banana slice is higher for the Nendran variety (28.2 N) than for the Dwarf
Scavendish variety (22.4 N). Similarly, the load required per unit width of
cut is higher for the Nendran variety than for the Dwarf Scavendish variety
(Table 4). However, the position and the part of fruit does not have any
significant effect over the load per unit width.
It is observed that the average energy requirement per unit area of cut of
banana is maximum when kept in the convex position (Table 4), while the
energy requirement per unit area of cut is minimum in the concave position.
 TABLE4
Mechanical Properties of Banana Fruit Pulp
W
Variety Position Part of Cross-sectional Maximum Total Energy Load d
of fruit fruit area of cut load (N) energy for per unit per unit
(mm2) cut (J) area (J/m ‘) width (N/mm)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (6) (7)
Dlwarf Convex Top
Scavendish Average 640.67 17.67 0.386 599.11 0.618
Maximum 787.00 20.40 0.505 686.81 0,716
Minimum 0.512 ?J
506.00 13.00 0.258 508.89
Standard deviation 86.62 2.39 0.075 58.73 0.060 3
Middle x
0.597 “S
f:
Average 716.17 17.97 0.413 573.48
Maximum 825.00 19.40 0.525 639.31 0.640
Minimum 649.00 15.40 0.338 490.55 0.520 2
Standard deviation 65.21 1.37 0.072 52.70 0,037
Tail
Average 604.67 16.77 0.333 548.25 0.604
Maximum 705.00 19.00 0.425 615.02 0.702 5’
Minimum 537.00 14.00 0.285 473.08 0.515 k
_m
Standard deviation 53.42 1.96 0.053 48.99 0.063 b
Y
Concave Top
Average 673.50 16.70 0,342 5 12.93 0.569 b
2
Maximum 806.00 18.60 0.420 582.57 0.612 E
Minimum 545.00 14.60 0.283 424.94 0.528 &
Standard deviation 94.64 1.29 0.043 58.44 0,033 a
Middle 2
Average 788.00 17.60 0.351 446.93 0.556 3
-.
Maximum 826.00 18.80 0.420 541.24 0.580 f
Minimum 753.00 16.80 0.310 379.44 O-532
Standard deviation 25.58 0.68 0.034 51.82 0.015
Tail
Average 664.33 16.90 0.338 508.56 0,583
Maximum 735.00 18.20 0.383 592.11 0.641
Minimum 570.00 15.80 0.285 470.30 0,524
Standard deviation 62.20 0.90 0.038 40.84 0.037
 TABLE 4 Conrd.

Variety Position Part of Cross-sectional Maximum Total Energy Load

of fruit fruit area of cut load (N) energy for per unit per unit
(mm”) cut (J) area (Jim’) width (N/mm)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (6) (7)

Plain Top
Average 668.83 19.07 0.371 558.48 0.644
Maximum 744.00 22.40 0.398 658.11 0.754
Minimum 604.00 16.40 0.345 504.20 0,544
Standard deviation 51.08 1.83 0.017 52.31 0.069
Middle
Average 747.67 18.60 0.386 5 16.52 0.612
Maximum 770.00 20.40 0.423 564.09 0.659
Minimum 733.00 16.00 0.355 484.3 1 0543
Standard deviation 13.56 1.70 0.023 28.18 0.042
Tail
Average 608.17 15.60 0.317 517.82 0.565
Maximum 695.00 16.40 0.385 555.56 0.616
Minimum 361.00 12.20 0.173 477.84 0.547
Standard deviation 120.05 1.53 0.069 26.30 0.024
Nandran Plain TOP
Average 702.00 23.80 0.403 593.02 0.725
Maximum 807.00 28.20 0.433 724.46 0.821
Minimum 597.00 19.40 0.373 461.59 0.629
Standard deviation 105.00 4.40 0.030 131.43 0.096
Middle
Average 836.50 19.80 0.43 1 521.48 0.660
Maximum 927.00 22.00 0.433 576.41 0.701
Minimum 746.00 17.60 0.430 466.56 0.619
Standard deviation 90.50 2.20 0.001 54.94 0.041
Tail
Average 704.00 20.70 0.365 524.71 0.688
Maximum 774.00 24.80 0.373 587.54 0.774
Minimum 634.00 16.60 0.358 461.89 0.602
Standard deviation 70.00 4.10 0.007 62.83 O.086
378 R. P Kachru, N. Kotwaliwale,D. Balasubramanian

However, when the fruit is kept in the plain position, the average energy
requirement per unit area is approximately mid-way between the other two
positions. In the convex position, some energy is required for bending the
fruit prior to piercing. In this position, the fruit is supported at its two
extreme ends and the moment arm for bending is positive and maximum,
whereas, in the concave and plain positions, the moment arm is zero but the
base contact is single point and multi-point, respectively. Therefore, the
energy requirement per unit area of cut of the banana pulp is maximum in
the convex position followed by the plain and concave positions. It is
therefore inferred that plain is the best position for slicing. This provides
such advantages as: the fruit remains in the most stable condition, energy
requirement for the performance of cut is moderate and the slices of the top
and tail ends are not oval shaped.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors acknowledge, with thanks, the support and facilities provided by
the Director, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal, India,
and the Director, Regional Research Laboratory (CSIR), Bhopal, India, in
carrying out this research.

REFERENCES

Mohesenin, N. N. (1980). Physical Properties of Plant and Chemical Materials.

Gordon and Breach, London.
Rameshbabu & Nayak, R. (1993). Moisture content determination of banana and
lemon using conventional air oven method. Unpublished report, Post Harvest
Tech. and Food Proc. Engng Dept., College of Agricultural Engng, Raichur,
Bangalore. India.
Sandor, B. I. (1978). Strength of Materials. Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ.