Resumen
Banana is one of the most important fruits in the world. Banana production accounted for 34.65% of the total fruit production in Indonesia on 2014, with a production value of 6.8 million tons. Many banana varieties are being consumed in every corner of the world. Pisang raja bulu is one of the banana varieties found around south-east asia. This banana has sweeter taste and smell and also more nutrients than other banana varieties. However, the production still has a lot to be improved upon, as a lot of problems arise during ripening, such as non-uniformed and uncontrollable ripening, even with bananas from the same bunch. The use of exogenous ethylene gas is already common in controlling the ripening of Cavendish banana. It helps to control the ripening process of Cavendish banana, and also gives a uniform ripening stage when combined with the control of storage temperature to extend the lifespan of bananas. Significant results had been shown after the treatment of exogenous ethylene. The highest value of total soluble solids were given by the exogenous-ethylene-treated sample stored in 20-22°C after 10 days of storage, which is 18.93° Brix. The lowest results were shown from the sample treated without exogenous ethylene stored in the temperature range 7-10°C after 10 days of storage as well, which is 8.53° Brix. This result showed that exogenous ethylene gas treatment can accelerate the ripening process of pisang raja bulu. On the other hand, low storage temperature can inhibit the process. Further research is still needed to map the rate of ripening of pisang raja bulu until the process can be controlled precisely as the market needs.