Improvement in Yield and Fruit Quality of Banana by Pre-harvest Treatment of GA3 and Chitosan
Naimur Rahman
Department of Horticulture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.
Nazrul Islam
Department of Horticulture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.
Shormin Choudhury *
Department of Horticulture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The present study evaluated the influence of pre-harvest application of gibberellic acid (GA₃) and chitosan on yield-contributing traits and fruit quality of banana cv. BARI Banana 1. The experiment was conducted at the Horticulture Farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, from July 2024 to June 2025. Treatments comprised three GA₃ levels (control, 100 ppm and 200 ppm) and three chitosan levels (control, 1 g/L and 2 g/L), arranged in nine combinations. Sprays were applied twice, at bunch emergence and 15 days after the first application. The combined application of GA₃ and chitosan influenced yield and quality attributes. Among the treatment combinations, GA₃ at 100 ppm with chitosan at 2 g/L produced the highest bunch weight (24.77 kg), bunch length (89.67 cm), number of fingers per bunch (145.00), total soluble solids (28.00 °Brix), vitamin C content (13.72 mg/100 g), reducing sugar content (10.85 mg/g), phenol content (20.45 mg/g) and improved peel colour values. The same treatment also recorded low titratable acidity (0.08%) and pH (4.48). Untreated plants generally showed the lowest values for most yield and quality parameters. These findings indicate that pre-harvest spraying of GA₃ at 100 ppm combined with chitosan at 2 g/L may improve banana yield and selected fruit quality attributes under the conditions of the present study.
Keywords: Banana, BARI Banana 1, gibberellic acid, chitosan, pre-harvest spray, bunch weight, fruit quality, total soluble solids, vitamin C, phenolic content