Review about postharvest quality, technologies, and strategies to reduce losses along the supply chain of banana

Banana fruit is a popular crop in global agriculture production and trade. Bananas are delicate fresh produce where external factors can highly affect their quality resulting in high losses during the postharvest supply chain. Scope and approachThis paper describes the most common nutritional, chemical, physical, and physiological quality attributes of the banana fruit. It also discusses the practiced technologies that are employed in the supply chain of bananas and their influence on banana fruit characteristics. Postharvest technologies play a crucial role in preserving fruits. Before implementing appropriate postharvest technology, it is essential to understand the quality changes in banana fruit during the ripening process. Key findings and conclusionsVarious technologies are being used like storage, artificial ripening, packaging, handling, and transportation for bananas within the supply chain. The review can increase awareness and knowledge by selecting and implementing suitable postharvest techniques to enhance postharvest shelf-life and retain the nutritional and marketable quality of this important fruit. Relevant recent studies on banana packaging are highlighted and some current non-destructive image processing techniques applied to bananas are described. Ultimately, this review suggests strategies to reduce postharvest losses in the physical, chemical, and nutritional quality of banana fruit and provides future research trends to achieve fruit safety, security, and quality. IntroductionBananas belong to the Musaceae family and it is one of the most significant tropical fruits in the world market. Banana is one of the delicious and preferred fruit by people of all ages that is consumed in various dry and fresh forms. Also, it is the cheapest, most nourishing fruit, and a rich source of energy. Banana is easily digestible (105 min) compared to other fruit like apples (210 min). Naturally, banana is popular for their texture, and aroma, and easy to peel and eat. The height of the banana plants grows up to 6?8 m, where the leaves are arranged in a spiral formation (Debabandya et al., 2010). Banana is an essential source of instant energy that can be considered an ideal supply of potassium intake (Pereira & Maraschin, 2015). Banana is consumed fresh or processed into several products at small or industrial scales, like a chip, dried fruit, bread, ice cream, smoothie, flour, and as an ingredient for functional food. Due to their nutritive elements, processed bananas can be used as an excellent food for babies and as a snack food, particularly, when it is mixed with some legumes-based product (Debabandya et al., 2010). The banana originated in the South-Western Pacific regions of the world, and it is cultivated and distributed across the globe. Many tropical and sub-tropical countries cultivated different varieties of bananas for consumption and medicinal purposes. Banana fruit is produced by small- and large-scale farmers in more than 130 countries. About one-fifth of the globally produced banana fruit is destined for international markets. Banana is one of the most vital global agricultural products, with commercial plantations responsible for supplying near to 15% of global production (Panigrahi et al., 2021). Besides, it is one of the major export commodities of many developing countries and represents the largest global trade in fruit. Between 2010 and 2020, worldwide production of bananas increased by 9.96% reaching 119 million tons (MT). Bananas ranked fourth in terms of the largest harvested crop after rice, wheat, and maize. Globally, the banana is one of the most affordable and popular fruit widely available. India produces nearly a third of total worldwide production (29%) followed by China, the Philippines, Brazil, and Ecuador in 2014 (Panigrahi et al., 2021). In Asian and African countries, the plantain banana is the 2nd highest-produced fruit after citrus which accounts for around 16% of global production (Youssef et al., 2018). Worldwide, the top five banana exporters are Ecuador (6813 thousand tons), the Philippines (2383 thousand tons), Costa Rica (2336 thousand tons), Guatemala (2318 thousand tons), and Colombia (2108 thousand tons) accounting for almost 77.96% of the global export in 2021, while the top five countries importing banana are the European Union (5146 thousand tons), United States of America (4051 thousand tons), China (1929 thousand tons), China, mainland (1863 thousand tons), and Russia Federation (1398 thousand tons) accounting for 73.9% of the global import trade (FAO, 2022). Approximately, one thousand varieties of bananas are currently available, and all of these are grown as edible produce. The most known and commercialized variety is ?Cavendish? (Musa acuminata, AAA group, Cavendish subgroup) which accounts for 40?50% of worldwide banana production. Thus, Cavendish is the most productive banana variety and the most exported among other varieties. Also, the Cavendish plantations are highly tolerant to natural disasters and adverse environmental challenges like storms (Sugianti et al., 2022). Banana fruit plays a very essential role as it contributes to food security and considers a source of export revenue in some countries (Siddiq et al., 2020). Over the centuries, the banana was one of the main contributors to the economic stability of rural farming communities where it has provided work for local farmers and decreased farmers' migration to different cities in search of substitutional livelihoods (Al-Busaidi, 2013). The banana becomes more significant as a cash crop and, in some cases, provides the main source of income to rural populations, thus, it plays a significant role in poverty mitigation. Also, it is one of the cheapest agricultural commodities to produce which makes it important produce for low-income societies and families (Hailu et al., 2013). Therefore, the banana is a crucial resource and has essential ecological and socioeconomic roles. The supply chain of any fresh produce includes several operations like production, transporting, distribution, handling, storage, packaging, etc. (Al-Dairi et al., 2022). Generally, the banana is a climacteric perishable fruit which makes its postharvest losses relatively high and occurs mostly during transportation, handling, and storage (Wasala et al., 2014). Every year, a huge amount of fresh produce has lost from the field to the consumers because of rough handling, improper storage, and inadequate transportation and packaging facilities. The postharvest losses of bananas during transportation and marketing range from 25 to 50% due to adverse effects like physiological changes, flesh softening, and lack of resistance capacity to microbial attack. High storage temperature and humidity have been determined as major factors involved in 25?40% losses of banana fruit. A delay or inappropriate transportation can also have detrimental impacts on banana fruit like shrinkage and quality deterioration (Sugianti et al., 2022). Bananas required appropriate and timely postharvest handling and a continuous cold chain. Keeping bananas during storage between 12 ?C and 16 ?C (Kader, 2002) and relative humidity in the range of 90?95% (Opara et al., 2013) can maintain the quality of bananas. Using alternative methods during the storage of bananas like controlled atmosphere storage and vacuum packaging can help to control temperature and gases and prolong the self-life of the fruit. Understanding the current postharvest management practices/technologies during the supply chain and their subsequent damages and losses and increasing knowledge on postharvest quality characteristics of bananas for preserving quality and extending shelf-life are required to ensure that the total amount of bananas is available at the consumer's level. This will help to export bananas by fulfilling the local or international consumer demands with proper postharvest management of fruit production. The current review will provide an updated discussion on the banana fruit importance and the role of postharvest practices in maintaining the quality of banana fruit. In addition, increase awareness among the workers involved throughout the food supply chain (farmers, producers, collectors, retailers, transporters, handlers, processors, consumers, etc.). Therefore, the following sections will discuss (a) the main quality characteristics of banana fruit including chemical, nutritional, physical, and physiological attributes; (b) the postharvest practices during the supply chain, focusing on the role of handling, storage, transporting, and packaging in the quality; (c) the latest studies on the use of image processing techniques on banana fruit; (d) different strategies to reduce or prevent the banana loss to meet the consumer acceptance and increase economical value. Contents of the full paperNutritional and chemical qualityRole of postharvest practices and technologies along the supply chain of banana fruitImage processing as an inspection/detection technique for banana fruitStrategies to maintain the banana quality and reduce postharvest losses along the supply chainConclusions SourcesPostharvest quality, technologies, and strategies to reduce losses along the supply chain of banana: A reviewMai Al-Dairi, Pankaj B. Pathare, Rashid Al-Yahyai, Hemanatha Jayasuriya & Zahir Al-Attabi Trends in Food Science & Technology,?Volume 134, April 2023, Pages 177-191https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S092422442300078X Picture, Ripening room by Interko, ripening specialist