Morpho-agronomic and organoleptic response of five banana cultivars (Musa spp.) under field conditions

In Cuba, banana production is destined for the national market as fresh fruit and plays an essential role in food security. The objective of this work was to evaluate in field conditions the morpho-agronomic and organoleptic characteristics of five banana cultivars Williams (Musa AAA), ‘Parecido al Rey’ (Musa AAA), ‘Formosana’ (Musa AAA), ‘FHIA-17’ (Musa AAAA) and 'Grande naine' (Musa AAA) in Quemado de Güines. For this study, 300 plants of each cultivar were planted at a distance of 3 x 2 x 2 m in a red ferralitic soil. The evaluations were carried out at the time of flowering and at harvest, during the first growing cycle. The results showed that the height of the plant and the circumference of the pseudostem had the lowest average values ​​ in the cultivar 'Grande naine'. The greatest number of functional leaves at the time of flowering occurred in the cultivars ‘Parecido al Rey’ and ‘Williams’, with values of 9.6 and 10, respectively. The ‘FHIA-17’ cultivar showed the highest values in the yield components. The total soluble solids content in the organoleptic maturity was 15.60% for the ‘Grande naine’ and ‘Parecido al Rey’. The banana pulp was characterized by presenting an acid pH in all cultivars. The results of this work provide important information for the design of varietal strategies, for the use of these cultivars in banana production for the national market and tourism.