Determination of -carotene content in Musa AA pulp (Kluai Khai) at different ripening stage and harvest period in Thailand

Abstract

Musa AA ‘Kluai Khai’ banana, is an important economic crop in Thailand. It was evaluated according to its morphology, total soluble solids (TSS), and pulp b-carotene content over different months according to its ripening state. The climate variability of Thailand in 2019 resulted in smaller bananas in May than in other months (March and July). TSS was found to be a directly proportional correlation to the ripening stage. The genotype and ploidy of Musa AA ‘Kluai Khai’ were confirmed using molecular markers and flow cytometry. The yellowish pigment of carotenoid was extracted from banana pulp using THF:MeOH (1:1, v/v). The utilization of HPLC displayed b-carotene content in Musa AA ‘Kluai Khai’ pulp as high as 5222.6 ± 83.8 µg / 100 g of fresh weight (gfw) in the 4th state of banana development in March, which was higher than those in July (4072.8 µg/ 100 gfw) and May (3121.8 µg/ 100 gfw) for the same ripening state. The relationship between b-carotene content and the ripening state was calculated to be a logarithmic correlation.