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Banana
The banana is a popular fruit that come from an herbaceous plant belonging to the Musa family of plants. Although they are native to Southeast Asia and Australia, today they are cultivated in at least 107 countries throughout the world (8),(4). There are two classifications of the fruit: the dessert varieties and the cooking varieties. The dessert fruit are typically soft and yellow and can be eaten raw when they are ripe. The cooking fruit are green, firm, and usually not eaten raw. In India, the ashes from burnt leaves and pseudostems are added to curries and used as a substitute for salt. In the Pacific, the tree trunks are used to line the bottom of ovens and thus provide steam when cooking. In addition, the leaves and plant fibers are used in many countries such as Hawaii and Taiwan to make string, cordage, thread, and cloth and often woven into beautiful hats, bags, and baskets (7). The plants are mainly cultivated for its fruit, which is usually soft, sweet, and eaten raw. However, they belong to a group of cultivars that can produce firm and even more starchy fruits called plantains. Plantains are usually cooked before they are eaten because of their firm texture and typically bland taste (5). In addition to raw fruit, they are also a popular snack food once dried. One popular form of the dried fruit is as chips. They can also be ground into flour that can be used for baking. Cooked or raw green, yellow, ripe, and half-ripe they were consumed many years ago in the Pacific islands during the famine and are currently the largest source of consumed calories in the world (1). They are also used to make wine, beer, liquor, and vinegar. Vitamins, Minerals and Phytochemical Components They contain dietary fiber as well as vitamins A, alpha carotene, beta carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamins C, E, K, B6, B12, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, folate, pantothenic acid, betaine, and choline. Minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, zinc, manganese, fluoride, copper, and selenium are also found. Medicinal Uses Based on Scientific Studies The large amounts of provitamin A and carotenoids that are contained in the yellow and orange colored fruit play a role in iron metabolism and have been shown to prevent vitamin A deficiencies and anemia (2). Carotenoids may also prevent diabetes, the development of certain cancers, and heart disease. Recently certain varieties have been shown to contain higher levels of carotenoids like beta-carotene than other varieties. For example beta-carotene levels in 100 grams of the Fei variety can be as high as 8500 micrograms. Another variety called Sucrier (Kudud) contains 315 micrograms of beta-carotene per 100 grams. The beta-carotene levels found in the Sucrier variety is 10 times higher than that which is found in the more popular Cavendish variety. The Cavendish only has 21 micrograms of beta-carotene per 100 grams (3). Nowadays, the flowers, fruits, roots, and stems of the plants are still used by Pacific cultures as medicinal remedies for many ailments, but its use as an herbal treatment is not as accepted as it used to be. In Hawaii, the stalks were usually crushed and used as a poultice to treat broken bones and sprains. The root sap of specific varieties was also used to treat thrush, an infection of the mouth that typically affects children and infants. The root sap was also used by French Polynesians as a skin wart treatment. Pacific cultures even used the leaves as bandages because they were believed to have antibiotic properties. Flavonoids from the fruit fed to rats decreased oxidation while increasing essential antioxidants (8). Extracts from them were shown in laboratory tests to protect brain neuronal cells from oxidative stress, indicating that eating bananas may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders (6). This preliminary evidence suggests that we should eat one daily. References 1. de Langhe E. (1995) Banana and Plantain: the Earliest Fruit Crops? INIBAP Annual Report Montpellier, France. 2. Englberger L, Darnton-Hill I, Coyne MH, Fitzgerald T, Marks GC. (2003) Carotenoid-rich bananas: a potential food source for alleviating vitamin A deficiency. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 24(4): 303–318. 3. Englberger L. (2003) Carotenoid-rich bananas in Micronesia. InfoMusa, 12(2): 2–5. 4. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2005) FAOSTAT: ProSTAT Crops. Retrieved March 18, 2008 from http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=567 5. Gowan S. (1995) Bananas and Plantains. Chapman and Hall, London. 6. Heo HJ, Choi SJ, Choi SG, Shin DH, Lee JM, Lee CY. (2008) Effects of banana, orange, and apple on oxidative stress-induced neurotoxicity in PC12 cells. Journal of Food Science, 73(2):H28-32. 7. Lessard WO (1992) The Complete Book of Bananas. W.O. Lessard, Homestead, Florida. 8. Vijayakumar S, Presannakumar G, Vijayalakshmi NR. (2008) Antioxidant activity of banana flavonoids. Fitoterapia, E-pub.
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