NIRS Database on fresh Matooke fingers at NaCRRI IITA, Uganda

Consumer acceptability of new banana lines and introductions of fresh banana “matooke” cultivars for cooking is important in achieving breeding targets of the IITA and Ugandan breeding programs. The main thrusts include the defining of the main acceptability trait called “tookeness” which is defined by the composition of the banana/fresh matooke. In the current database, 211 spectra have been acquired from 34 genotypes of fresh matooke. The genotypes are part of the IITA collection hosted at Namulonge. Using the developed standard operating procedure developed for fresh matooke, spectra of the flesh of fresh fingers were scanned using an ASD Qualityspec spectrometer. Reference information for one of the definitive traits for tokeness-the dry matter content-was generated using the oven method. In total 43 replicate measurements for dry matter content were compiled corresponding to the different genotypes (some repeated) were undertaken. Calibrations on the same traits will be considered and the role of NIRS in determination of banana based DM will be undertaken. The relevance of NIRS in determination of other quantitative traits definitive of consumer acceptability is therefore under exploration.