Morphological and horticultural characteristics of some commercial banana (Musa spp.) cultivars of Kerala

Morphological and horticultural characteristics of six cultivars of banana fruits (Musa spp.) that are commercially grown in Kerala, belonging to different genomic groups viz. Nendran (AAB), Pisang Lilin (AA), Karpooravalli (ABB), Njalipoovan (AB), Grand Naine (ABB) and Yangambi (KM-5) (AAA) were evaluated. The morphological traits were characterized using Banana Descriptors established by IPGRI (1996), from which 9 characters were selected for quantitative analysis. Horticultural characters on variables such as number of fruits per bunch, fruit length (cm), fruit pedicel length (mm), fruit pedicel width (mm), peel thickness (mm), pulp weight (g), fruit to peel ratio, fruit flesh firmness (cm2kg-1) were analysed and subjected to one way ANOVA to determine the significance (p=.05). The cultivar Nendran (AAB) exhibited large morphological and horticultural traits, particularly for the fruit length (22.07cm), pulp weight (89.20g) and peel weight (49.30g). The cultivar Karpooravalli (ABB) was smaller in terms of the fruit length (10.67 cm) and peel weight (9.65g), but had a large (4.81) fruit: pulp ratio compared to other cultivars studied. The present work reveals substantial morphological and horticultural variation among banana cultivars of different genomic groups, with an overlap of similarities and differences even in banana cultivars having the same genomic group

Biochemical and nutritional characteristics of some commercial banana (Musa spp.) cultivars of Kerala

Biochemical and nutritional traits of 6 banana (Musa spp.) cultivars commercially cultivated in Kerala, belonging to different genomic groups viz. Pisang Lilin (AA), Grand Naine (ABB), Nendran (AAB), Karpooravalli (ABB), Njalipoovan (AB) and Yangambi (KM-5) (AAA) were evaluated. Biochemical and nutritional characters on variables such as titratable acidity (%), total soluble solids (oBrix) (TSS), total protein (g), total carbohydrates (g), total fat (%), total ash (%), crude fibre (%), vitamin C (mg), calcium (mg), potassium (mg), total phenols (mg) and total carotenoid (µg) content were laid out in a completely randomized design and subjected to one way ANOVA to determine the significance (p=.05). The cultivar Nendran (AAB) exhibited desirable biochemical and nutritional traits, particularly for titratable acidity (0.34%), TSS (23.90oB), total carbohydrates (37.51g/100g), total ash (14.89%) and crude fibre (0.90%) content. Yangambi (KM-5) (AAA) exhibited the highest values for major minerals of banana, especially calcium (168.90 mg/100g) and potassium (406.60 mg/100g). The current study reveals biochemical and nutritional variation among banana cultivars from different genomic groups, with similarities and differences overlapping even among banana cultivars from the same genomic group

Shelf life and quality of banana cultivar Nendran as influenced by shrink–wrap packaging and storage temperature

Banana is the most widely cultivated fruit crop in Kerala. Nendran, a dual purpose cultivar is grown for consumption as vegetable in the unripe stage and also as fruit, upon ripening. An experiment was conducted during 2019-20 to extend the shelf life of this fruit through shrink wrapping, followed by storage under ambient and cool chamber conditions, after sanitizing with chlorine (100 ppm) followed by treatment with alum (1 %) and subsequently dipping in the fungicide, Carbendazim 50 WP (0.1 %). Initial titratable acidity and ascorbic acid contents of Nendran banana were 0.16 % and 6.06 mg 100g-1 respectively. Total phenols and starch content of freshly harvested green Nendran banana were 145 mg 100g-1 and 84.0 % respectively. Shelf life of shrink wrapped fruits held in cool chamber could be extended to 45 days whereas the unwrapped fruits under ambient storage (control) became unmarketable after 7 days. The findings of the study revealed that physiological loss in weight and rate of respiration recorded an upward trend during storage while fruit firmness recorded a downward trend. Total soluble solids, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid rose with advancement of storage duration whereas total phenols and starch content declined. . The developed protocol could be used for long distance transportation to distant markets for internal trade as well as for shipment to foreign markets

Evaluation of surface coating and shrink- wrap packaging on shelf life and quality of mango cultivar ‘Neelum’

Kerala, the Indian state has the distinction of producing the earliest mangoes in the country, in February and the season extends up to May, coinciding with South West monsoon. Mango cultivar ‘Neelum’, the last commercial variety to attain maturity in the State is hampered by the incidence of fruit fly and anthracnose disease. An attempt was made during 2019-20 to extend the availability of the fruits of this cultivar by giving a surface coating with ‘Nipro Fresh’ wax containing the fungicide, Carbendazim, followed by shrink-wrap packaging in trays made of areca nut leaf sheath, before sanitizing with chlorine (100 ppm) and alum solution (1%). Surface coating with ‘Nipro Fresh’, followed by shrink-wrap packaging of trays containing mangoes, and their subsequent storage in cool chamber at 12-13 °C and 85-90 % relative humidity, extended the shelf life by 54 days, compared to the uncoated and unwrapped samples which had a shelf life of 9 days under ambient conditions. Respiration rate, physiological loss in weight, total soluble solids and carotenoids showed a steady rise while titratable acidity, total phenols and ascorbic acid recorded a declining trend

Experimental study of the atmospheric neutrino backgrounds for proton decay to positron and neutral pion searches in water Cherenkov detectors

The atmospheric neutrino background for proton decay to positron and neutral pion in ring imaging water Cherenkov detectors is studied with an artificial accelerator neutrino beam for the first time. In total, about 314,000 neutrino events corresponding to about 10 megaton-years of atmospheric neutrino interactions were collected by a 1,000 ton water Cherenkov detector (KT). The KT charged-current single neutral pion production data are well reproduced by simulation programs of neutrino and secondary hadronic interactions used in the Super-Kamiokande (SK) proton decay search. The obtained proton to positron and neutral pion background rate by the KT data for SK from the atmospheric neutrinos whose energies are below 3 GeV is about two per megaton-year. This result is also relevant to possible future, megaton-scale water Cherenkov detectors.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figure

Evidence for muon neutrino oscillation in an accelerator-based experiment

We present results for muon neutrino oscillation in the KEK to Kamioka (K2K) long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. K2K uses an accelerator-produced muon neutrino beam with a mean energy of 1.3 GeV directed at the Super-Kamiokande detector. We observed the energy dependent disappearance of muon neutrino, which we presume have oscillated to tau neutrino. The probability that we would observe these results if there is no neutrino oscillation is 0.0050% (4.0 sigma).Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Search for coherent charged pion production in neutrino-carbon interactions

We report the result from a search for charged-current coherent pion production induced by muon neutrinos with a mean energy of 1.3 GeV. The data are collected with a fully active scintillator detector in the K2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. No evidence for coherent pion production is observed and an upper limit of $0.60 \times 10^{-2}$ is set on the cross section ratio of coherent pion production to the total charged-current interaction at 90% confidence level. This is the first experimental limit for coherent charged pion production in the energy region of a few GeV.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Measurement of single charged pion production in the charged-current interactions of neutrinos in a 1.3 GeV wide band beam

Single charged pion production in charged-current muon neutrino interactions with carbon is studied using data collected in the K2K long-baseline neutrino experiment. The mean energy of the incident muon neutrinos is 1.3 GeV. The data used in this analysis are mainly from a fully active scintillator detector, SciBar. The cross section for single $\pi^{+}$ production in the resonance region ($W<2$ GeV/$c^2$) relative to the charged-current quasi-elastic cross section is found to be 0.734 $^{+0.140}_{-0.153}$. The energy-dependent cross section ratio is also measured. The results are consistent with a previous experiment and the prediction of our model.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, 7 tables. Uses revtex4. Minor revisions to match version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Measurement of inclusive π0\pi^0 production in the Charged-Current Interactions of Neutrinos in a 1.3-GeV wide band beam

In this paper we report on the measurement of the rate of inclusive $\pi^0$ production induced by charged-current neutrino interactions in a C$_8$H$_8$ target at a mean energy of 1.3 GeV in the K2K near detector. Out of a sample of 11,606 charged current neutrino interactions, we select 479 $\pi^0$ events with two reconstructed photons. We find that the cross section for the inclusive $\pi^0$ production relative to the charged-current quasi-elastic cross section is $$\frac{\sigma_{CC\pi^0}}{\sigma_{CCQE}}=0.426\pm0.032(stat.)\pm0.035(syst.)$$ The energy dependent cross section ratio is also measured. The results are consistent with previous experiments for exclusive channels on different targets.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, submitted to PR

Improved search for νμ→νe\nu_\mu \to \nu_e oscillation in a long-baseline accelerator experiment

We performed an improved search for $\nu_\mu \to \nu_e$ oscillation with the KEK to Kamioka (K2K) long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment, using the full data sample of $9.2 \times 10^{19}$\xspace protons on target. No evidence for a $\nu_e$ appearance signal was found, and we set bounds on the $\nu_\mu \to \nu_e$ oscillation parameters. At $\Delta m^2$ = $2.8 \times 10^{-3} \mathrm{eV}^2$, the best fit value of the K2K $\nu_\mu$ disappearance analysis, we set an upper limit of $\sin^2 2\theta_{\mu e}$ $<$ 0.13 at 90% confidence level.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure