The fruit grows in hanging clusters, with 20 fruits to a tie and 3-20 tie to a bunch. The fruit is protected by its peel which is discarded as waste after the inner fleshy portion is eaten. Banana peel accounts about 40% of overall weight of the fresh fruit. Banana peels have different medical advantages to amazing dietary status, and it treats the intestinal sore, looseness of the bowels, diarrhea, ulcerative colitis, nephritis, gout, heart infection, hypertension and diabetes.
This resulted in 200 tons of waste from banana peels generated each day and this amount tends to increase annually. The banana peels waste is normally disposed in municipal landfills, which contribute to the existing environmental problems.
Moisture content of the peel to be 6.7%. The value is relatively low, and may perhaps be due to the time of harvest. The low value also designate that the peel can be amass for a long time without growing moldy. The ash content was found to 8.50%.
The organic matter content was found to be 91.50%. Organic matter measures the nutritional value (lipids, proteins and carbohydrate) of a plant material. The high value indicates that banana peels are good sources of nutrients. On the average, banana peels contain 6-9% dry matter of protein and 20- 30% fiber (measured as NDF). Green plantain peels contain 40% starch that is transformed into sugars after ripening.
The high dietary fiber content of banana peel (about 50 g/ 100 g) is indicative of a good source of dietary fiber.
Banana peel is rich in phytochemical compounds mainly antioxidants. The total amount of phenolic compounds in banana peel has been represented for from 0.90 to 3.0 g/100 g dry weight.
It also contains antioxidant compounds including polyphenols, catecholamins and carotenoids. Dietary polyphenols, with the aid of its wonderful antioxidant properties that cross beyond the adjustment of oxidative stress, play a critical function in the prevention of degenerative diseases especially, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
The antifungal, antibiotic properties of banana peel can put to be good use. The peel is used for home remedy for treating several skin problems including allergies and skin irritations.
Banana peels are used as feedstock as they have some nutritional values. Banana peels are widely used for that purpose on small farms in regions where bananas are grown. There are some concerns over the impact of tannins contained in the peels on animals that consume them.
In recent times, banana peel has been utilized for various industrial applications including bio-fuel production, bio-sorbents, pulp and paper, cosmetics, energy related activities, organic fertilizer, environmental clean-up and biotechnology related processes.
Chemical composition of banana peel
