• Bananas are harvested at various stages of its maturity depending upon the purpose for which it is cultivated, such as culinary, table purpose etc., and distance to the market (3/4 full maturity in Robusta for distant markets, while full maturity for local market etc.).
• The assessment of the harvesting maturity is itself is a skilled job. The harvesting in India is usually done by visual judging. The duration of flowering to maturation in days can also be taken as a guide to harvest index.
• In many of the perennial plantations, depending upon the time of setting of followers, the age of follower sucker at the time of setting it, cultural practices like manuring, irrigation followed will determine the time of harvest, and most often a continuous harvest all throughout the year can be obtained.
• After harvesting, the pseudostems should be cut leaving a stump of about 0.6 m height. This practice is called muttocking.
• Experimental evidence showed that the left over stump with its stored food material continues to nourish the daughter sucker (follower) till it withers and dries up
• The cultivars like "Poovan', 'Monthan', 'Rasthali' and Dwarf Cavendish are ready for harvest in 11 to 12 months from date of planting.
• Dwarf Cavendish (Basrai) takes 14 months in Maharashtra. Some cultivars like Nendran in Kerala takes only 10 months for harvest. Yields are highly variable.

The following are the yield figures of major cultivars

• Bananas are not usually allowed to ripen on the tree as it takes long time. Moreover, the fruit-peel splits, fruit ripens unevenly and fails to develop good colour and aroma, hence the marketable quality deteriorates. Therefore, banana needs to be ripened artificially.
• On arrival at the destination, the banana bunches are immediately sold to wholesale dealers who store the fruits in loose heaps in godowns and ripen them in lots as per the need of the retail dealers.
• In tropical conditions, fruits for local consumption are harvested and ripened by hanging the bunches in a shady place.
• Some considered four enzymes as catalysts, which increased with ripening particularly at temperature below 30⁰ C.
• The predominant carbohydrate of green banana was found to be starch which hydrolysed to sucrose, glucose and fructose on ripening.
• The starch hydrolysis did not commence until respiration had increased to the two-thirds of the climacteric peak and at about the peak of ethylene production.
• The starch degradation is accompained by an increase in sucrose content followed by glucose and fructose formation during ripening.
• Some reported that during ripening, arginine, serine, valine, leucine and histidine contents increased whereas aspartic acid and glutamic acid content declined.
• Smoke treatment is the commonest method to induce ripening in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Smoking is done with straw, leaves and cowdung in a closed chamber with bunches arranged in a heap for 18-24 hours in summer and 48 hours in winter.
• After taking the bunches from the chamber they are placed in a well-ventilated room for development of colour.
• Smoke treatment causes ripening of the bunches within 3 days. Ripening is also done by keeping the bunches covered with gunny sacks.
• Ethrel, ethylene and temperature promoted respiration can cause ripening of the fruits.
• High concentration (1000 ppm) and/or a prolonged treatment with ethrel (5 min) and ethylene (48 hours) caused intensive respiration.
• Ethylene at a concentration of 1 part per thousand also helps to initiate ripening of banana.
• In commercial trade, ripening is initiated by using various chemical substances. Growth regulating chemicals, such as 2, 4-D, 2, 4, 5-T, IAA and TBZ have been tried to hasten ripening.
• 2, 4-D is the cheapest chemical for inducing artificial ripening, and 1000 ppm of 2, 4-D for 30 seconds was optimum.
• A post-harvest dip of banana fruits in ABA and IAA solution also hastened ripening. Use of acetylene gas generated from CaC₂ for ripening banana was started as early as 1932. Since then CaC₂ is used on a large scale in case of ripening mature green bananas.
• Ethrel application at or above 500 ppm accelerated ripening by 2 days, resulting in optimum eating quality by 4 days after treatment.

• Banana can be stored at a temperature slightly above 55⁰ F (13⁰ C) and a relative humidity of 85 to 95 per cent for about three weeks, and is ripened in a week or two at 62-70⁰ F (16.5-21⁰ C).
• Banana fruit becomes blackened at lower temperatures and should not be placed in a refrigerator. Internally, the banana is carried either by rail or by road in unrefrigerated carriage.
• On the other hand, the produce for overseas trade is carried in refrigerated ships, the banana being kept in a cool air circulation at about 52-56⁰ F (11-13.5⁰ C). Premature ripening is probably the biggest single cause of loss during storage.
• Keeping the fruit in relatively high concentration of CO₂ and low concentration of O₂ can prolong storage life.
• Dipping of bananas at 200 ppm TBZ has been approved and recommended as a post-harvest treatment.
• A double coating of 12% wax emulsion prolonged the storage life of Dwarf Cavendish banana by 10-12 days at 58⁰ F (14.5⁰ C).

The banana bunches harvested at apt age of maturity are wrapped with dried banana levels before packing into in lorries or railways wagons for long distance transport. This practice is in vogue in commercial orchards of Maharashtra, Bihar, etc.

• At destination the bunches of Dwarf cavendish, poovan etc. are dehanded and sold in retail outlets, whereas in the markets whole bunches as such are marketed.
• In Tamil Nadu, Hill banana 'Virupakshi' is dehanded in the plantation itself and are packed in small lots of 500 fruits each and marketed in Madras and Dindigul.
• In Kerala, the Nendran bunches are marketed as whole bunches itself. Often male buds are not even removed to give a better show for the whole bunch during festive seasons.