Carotenoids in Bananas and Plantains: Nutritional Significance and Health Benefits

Carotenoids are a diverse group of naturally occurring pigments that give fruits and vegetables their vivid yellow, orange, and red hues. Found abundantly in bananas and plantains, carotenoids are not only visually appealing but also critically important for human health due to their antioxidant properties and role as vitamin A precursors. These compounds play a pivotal role in reducing oxidative stress, supporting vision, bolstering immune function, and promoting skin health.

In bananas and plantains, the types and amounts of carotenoids vary depending on the cultivar and ripeness of the fruit. Common carotenoids include beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lutein. Beta-carotene, the most studied of these, serves as a precursor to vitamin A, an essential nutrient for maintaining healthy eyesight, particularly night vision, and for fortifying the immune system. Lutein, on the other hand, is known for its role in eye health, particularly in reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration.

The nutritional contribution of carotenoids is particularly pronounced in plantains, which generally contain higher carotenoid concentrations than bananas. In their unripe green stage, plantains have carotenoid levels that are significantly higher than their ripe counterparts. As bananas and plantains ripen, enzymatic and biochemical changes often lead to a reduction in carotenoid content, highlighting the importance of consuming these fruits at varying stages of ripeness to maximize their nutritional benefits.

Carotenoids also contribute to disease prevention. Regular consumption of carotenoid-rich foods, including bananas and plantains, has been linked to a reduced risk of chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and some cancers. Their potent antioxidant properties neutralize harmful free radicals, reducing cellular damage and inflammation, both of which are underlying factors in chronic diseases.

In addition to these health benefits, bananas and plantains are accessible and versatile dietary staples in many regions, particularly in tropical and subtropical areas. Their affordability and widespread availability make them a practical source of carotenoids for populations at risk of vitamin A deficiency, a condition that affects millions globally.

Incorporating bananas and plantains into daily meals is a simple yet effective way to boost dietary carotenoid intake. Whether consumed as a ripe snack, cooked, or incorporated into traditional recipes, these fruits offer significant nutritional benefits, underscoring their value in a balanced and health-promoting diet.
Carotenoids in Bananas and Plantains: Nutritional Significance and Health Benefits

Banana in India

Banana belongs to family Musaceae in the order Scitaminae. India ranks second in banana production among the various banana-producing countries in the world.

In India banana is the most fruit produce by the famers next to mango. Agricultural activity is the major occupation in India. The major banana-growing states are Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam.

Biodiversity in the cultivars of banana which consist of triploids, is complex especially in Nendran. Nendran belonging to Musa AAB plantain subgroup is the leading banana cultivar of the Kerala.

Banana leaf is considered as ‘biological plate’ for serving dishes especially in South India. Starch is manufactured form the pseudostem. Banana fiber from the pseudostem is utilized for making attractive carry bags and it is a potential source of pulp.
Banana in India

History of banana in India

Plantains or banana plants were cultivated in India from very early times. Religious rituals in Sastric tradition describe it as highly auspicious plant, particularly, for marriage ceremonies.

The discovery of banana phytoliths at Kot Diji, south Pakistan, a site from the Indus Valley civilizations which was inhabited around 2000 BC, indicates that this fruit already reached the northwest part of the South Asian continent.

Bananas are put into a variety of uses in India, especially in South India. Almost every part of the plant is used is in some way or another; hence it is popularly known as ‘Kalpatharu’.

The fruit is easily digestible, a good food for people suffering from gastritis and other stomach ailments. In Southern India, banana leaves were and still used as plates for serving and eating food.

In traditional medicine in India the golden banana is regarded as nature’s secret of perpetual youth, promoting healthy digestion and creating a feeling of youthfulness.

At an Indian wedding, the groom gives the bride a banana as a symbol of fertility. The banana is also the subject of Hindu art. In the Vedic tradition a banana grove is home to the monkey god Hanuman.

Descriptions of bananas are given in Greek writings on 327 BC in Indus Valley, during the expedition of Alexander the Great in India.

Most botanists believe that bananas were introduced from India to the Middle East and across North America by Arabs.
History of banana in India

Banana: color indication

Banana is very different from other fruits in a number of aspects. First, each stalk or trunk bears only one bunch of bananas in its lifetime.

Second, new plants come from young plants growing from the base and roots of an old plant. Good fresh banana is plump, well-filled fruit with a bright even color and fresh stem. With bananas ripeness is indicated by the color of the skin. The fruit is of a green color when shipped to market, where it is ripened in storage room, and takes on a yellow or red color depending upon variety.

Good eating quality is indicated when solid red or yellow color of the banana is tinted with brown and flecked with small brown specks. At this stage, the flesh is mellow and the flavor fully developed.

Banana flesh discolors on slicing so prepare and use straight away - otherwise sprinkle with a little lemon or lime juice to delay the browning effect.
Banana: color indication

Types of banana

A banana produced for export account for around 13% of total world-wide Musa production, and this is almost exclusively Cavendish varieties.

The Cavendish banana the most popular fruit in the United States and Europe is the clone of a sterile mutant banana that has been propagated by human cultivators for millennia.

There are about 55 million tons of Cavendish bananas grown a year worldwide. Cavendish is also produced widely by non-exporting countries, accounting for 35.5% of production in Asia and the Pacific, of which only 5% is exported.

Cavendish banana

Plantains (AAB) are the most important type of Musa produced in West and Central Africa, accounting for 73% of production. However, this only constitutes 44% of global plantain production, with another 40% being produced in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Plantain is a natural hybrid of Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. Most of the plantain (AAB) types apparently originated in the Philippines and India, the only Asia regions where there is still a great diversity of plantain cultigens.

Other important sub-group bananas include the East African highland bananas, which constitutes some 72% of bananas grown in the Great Lakes region of East Africa and the Maia Maoli/Popoulu group of bananas which are cultivated throughout the Pacific Islands.
Types of banana

Musa acuminata

The majority of edible bananas and plantains are descended from just two wild species: Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana.

The first bananas to be cultivated were probably plants of Musa acuminata growing in the humid forests of Malaysia.

Musa acuminata is one of about 30 wild bananas that are known to occur in south-east Asia.

M. acuminata is diploid: its somatic cells contain two basic chromosome sets, not four or six. It has 22 chromosomes, so that the basic chromosome number (n) is 11 – other wild banana have n=7, 9 or 10.

One of the species, Musa acuminata ‘Dwarf Lady Finger’ is valued for its small, finger size bananas and slender growth. It produces deliciously sweet bananas within a year or two, flowering and fruiting when less than 4 feet tall.
Musa acuminata

Introduction to bananas

Bananas are not grown commercially in the continental United States, but some are grown in Hawaii and shipped to the mainland.

In the western hemispheres, the chief production of bananas occurs in Mexico and the Central Americans countries, in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republican, Honduras, Colombia and Brazil. Bananas are also grown in some Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

Bananas trees are started from young plants that bud from the underground stem or bulb of older plants. The trees bear mature fruit 13-15 months after planting, depending on climate, and each other requires an area of 100-400 ft2 (9.3 – 37m2), depending on soil and water conditions.

The trees develop flowering stalks with males and female flowers, and the female flower eventually becomes the fingers (single bananas) of the hand. Only one stem (bunch) of bananas is produced per tree.
Introduction to bananas

Banana wine

Anaerobic fermentation of green or cooking banana puree with Saccharomyces cerevisiae produces banana wine.

Overripe banana can also be utilized for wine making, but sugar has to be added to increase soluble solids. Banana wine played a prominent role in the ritual and social events of the major interlacustrine kingdoms of East Africa.

In Africa, the popularity of banana wine has, since the colonial period, given rise to periodic official alarms over the extent to which people concentrate on growing bananas for this purpose rather than as a food stuff.

During the pass millennia, banana wine came to the fore in both east and west Africa. Starches in bananas naturally breakdown into sugars as the fruit ripens, leaving a sweet pulp inside the darkening skin. That makes it challenging to peel and eat an overripe banana but facilitates the production of a fermented alcoholic beverage.

The Haya people of Tanzania have very specific rules governing the consumption of banana wine. A man sip his through a reed drinking tube from  a gourd with a long narrow neck.

Women can drink either form a banana -leaf cup or a short-necked gourd but must not use a straw.
Banana wine

Worldwide banana trade

Bananas are the most important traded fruit in the world and the most important fruit in the diet in most Western countries. It is the fourth most important food product within the least developed countries being staple food for some 400 million people.

There are about 1000 varieties of banana trees in more than 150 countries, producing around 105 to 120 million tones of fruit a year.

Around a quarter of banana production finds its way into a world trade worth over $8bn. Moreover, bananas still form a critical part of the economics of many Central American, South American and Caribbean countries.

What distinguished the international banana trade from other fruit and commodity trade is the intensity of its politics and the importance of the major companies involved.

For over a hundred years, the multinationals – currently Chiquita (formerly the United Fruit Company), Dole, and Del Monte – have dominated the trade.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (2011) estimates that the top five banana companies (Chiquita, Dole, Del Monte, Fyffes and Noboa) account for more than 70 per cent of the global export market for bananas. These companies serve functions ranging from production to processing to trading of bananas.

The high level of capital investment and technical expertise required for production, and especially sea transport in specialized vessels, and the important of and ownership - constitute large – but not insuperable – barriers to entry in the industry.

Today world trade of banana is still characterized by a high concentration of key players: five countries, four of which are in Latin America – Ecuador, Columbia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Philippines represents 11.6 MT of exports in 2010 from total of worldwide 13.9 MT.

The United States and EC-27 each imported approximately 27 percent of all bananas traded internationally in 2012, while other importers operated at a much smaller scale.
Worldwide banana trade

Tomato ketchup

Banana ketchup looks just like regular ketchup and is comprised of mashed bananas, tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and spices.

Traditionally banana ketchup is sweet, sour, salty, savoury and doesn’t taste like bananas at all.

The red coloring is added so it looks like tomato ketchup. In Philippines banana ketchup made utilizing banana puree is a popular substitute for tomato ketchup.

It is often used as a dip for fried chicken, hotdogs, and other fried dishes.
Tomato ketchup

Banana drinks

The banana is mentioned in the Buddhist Pali texts found in Ceylon, one of these describing, among other things, a heady beverage derived from the banana which the monks would drink on feast day.

Bananas are great mixes. They can be mixed with strawberry, raspberries, cherries, apples, coconut – they adore ice cream, buttermilk, milk, yoghurt cocoa and chocolate.

Ripe bananas are best for virtually every conceivable shake and cocktail and just as with the sweet and savory recipes, the fruit fuses so well in all drinks that the mixes are literally endless.

Banana wine
Banana wine is produced in relatively warm areas, and the juice is considered ready for drinking in two or three days and spoils in around five days.

In several parts of Africa, the fruit of various banana species are crushed to extract a juicy, which is used to produce a fermented beverage.

The use of bananas to produce beverage alcohol is reported in a smaller scale in Nigeria, Benin, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Banana juice
Traditionally, banana juice is extracted using a technology based on physically working the pulp, and this process has been mechanized.

Banana juice has been known to ease the suffering of people who have colitis and heartburn. It is an excellent source of potassium and vitamin A and a number of other beneficial elements.
Banana drinks

Banana flour

The banana flour is prepared from the unripe fruits.  The fruits are harvest at three quarters the full-ripe stage and are processed within 24 h prior to the onset of ripening.

If less mature fruits are used, the flour may taste slightly astringent and bitter due to the tannin content.

The dried chips may be stored as reserve ‘famine foods’ or ground and milled into flour as required.

Banana flour is used to prepare gruel and porridge, often in admixture with cereal flour from maize or millets. It is used in foods for babies and invalids but also be used in preparation of bread and beverages.

Banana flour can be blended with other flours for making chapattis, biscuits, papadams and extruded foods.

Fours obtained from unripe banana are an important source of indigestible carbohydrates and polyphenol compounds. It is high starch content of the pulp and cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin levels. It can be modified by enzymatic and chemical treatments to increase the amount of indigestible carbohydrates.
Banana flour

Dopamine in banana

Bananas are popular edible fruits. The major phenolics of banana include catecholamines, naringin and rutin. 

Dopamine and norepinephrine are the predominant catecholamines in banana peel and pulp; phenolics accumulate mainly in the peel.

Researchers found that the dopamine content in banana varied from 80-560 mg/100g in the peel and 2.5-10 mg/100 g in the pulp in Cavendish banana.

Dopamine is a strong, water soluble antioxidant. It has similar antioxidant potency to strong antioxidants such as gallocatechin gallate and AsA.

It is the primary substrate in enzymatic browning. It is further confirmed that dopamine is the only major phenolic constituent in banana peel.

Dopamine displays anti-inflammatory activity and protects against intestinal injury by acting as modulator of eicosanoid synthesis.

Dopamine is easily absorbed by the body and is considered to play an important role in the control of Parkinson’s disease.
Dopamine in banana

Potassium in banana

Low potassium intake can disrupt acid-base balance in the body and contribute to bone loss and kidney stones.

Vegetables and fruits are good potassium source. Potassium is abundant in unprocessed foods such as fruit, vegetables , whole grain and milk.

The amount of potassium in food varies but bananas are often associated with high potassium, with a approximately 422 mg in a medium size banana. In fact, bananas have more potassium by weight than any other fruit, except avocados.

Potassium found in food is well absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract (greater than 90% absorption). 

Study by Harvard School of Health showed that a diet rich in high potassium foods such a banana may reduce the risk of stroke. Men who ate the higher number of potassium rich foods had a risk of stroke 38 percent lower than that of men who consumed fewer than four serving a day.
Potassium in banana

World Production trends of banana

Bananas and plantain are very important fruit crops in the tropical world. They grown largely by smallholders and play a major role of food security and income generation for million of the region’s rural poor worldwide.

Banana and plantains are perennial crops that grow quickly and can be harvested all year round, they were cultivated on an area of some 9 million hectares in year 2000; world production average 92 million tons per annum in 1998 – 2000 and was estimated at 99 million tones in 2001.

From 1992 to 2006 global exports increased from 10.7 million tons to 16.789 million tons.

Musa production is growing faster than that of other starchy staples and increase in production has occurred in all regions.

At the global yields of bananas and plantains have increase from 8.97 t/ha in 1970 to 16.46 t/ha per year in 2000.

As of the year 2000 there were 4.1 million hectares devoted to banana production worldwide including Brazil - 521, 285 hectares, India – 490,000, and Philippines – 383 387 hectares.

It is estimated that world banana production increased by 30 percent over the 1990s, mainly as a result of rising Cavendish output.

Total value of international banana trade ranges between US$4.5 and 5 billion per year.

Banana is an important crop in the three major regions, Asia, Latin America and Africa.

In 2009, India led the world in banana production, representing approximately 28% of the worldwide crop, mostly for domestic consumption.
World Production trends of banana

Mineral in Banana

Mineral in Banana
Chemical analysis shows the banana to contain: water 73.3 per cent; protein 1.3; fat 0.06 per cent; total carbohydrate 22 per cent; mineral element 0.8 per cent.

The mineral content of the banana is largely potash, sodium and chlorine. Lime and iron exist in but small amount.

It also contain magnesium, copper, sulfur and calcium.

Banana help build bones and are very good for jaundice because of their iron content. They also aid acute gout and arthritis.

As one of the leading fresh fruit sources of potassium, bananas are in good supply all year long. One medium banana contains close to 400 mg of potassium, a mineral that plays a role in lowering blood pressure, sending oxygen to the brain and regulating the body’s water content.

Potassium also helps kidneys function properly. Potassium is also needed for muscle contraction. It helps the muscle that make heart pump and the muscle that digest the food.

The potassium level in the body can be restored to normal with a high potassium banana snack.

A fresh banana also supplies 120 mg sulfur, 8 mg silicon,. 33 mg of magnesium and 26 mg of phosphorus, along with ample amount of copper, chromium, iron, fluoride, manganese, selenium and zinc.

Bananas are high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
Mineral in Banana

Introduction of Banana to the West

Introduction of Banana to the West
Bananas are not native to the Western Hemisphere. Their original homeland was most likely in South or Southeast Asia. Various banana species were diffused by human migration – for example, by the Polynesian, who carried them as far as Hawaii – or by conquest – such as by the Arabs, who were responsible for the banana’s westward expansion.

The biological term used for bananas, musa, is Arabic; it is derivative of a Sanskrit word, reflecting the fact that Arabs originally encountered the fruit in India.

There are many species of bananas, most of which are produced on a small scale for local consumption throughout the tropics. Only a few species are produced for export on a major scale, and those have lost the ability to reproduce from seeds.

They must be propagated by dividing the rhizomes (root stock) to generate new plants for each growing season.

European first came across bananas during their explorations of coastal Africa, to which the banana had spread either by Arab contact from the North, through Polynesian migration to Madagascar, or both.

The Spanish were responsible for its introduction into the Americas when Friar Tomas de Berlanga brought the first banana plants from the Canary Islands to Santo Domingo in 1516.

It is important to note that the fruit alone was incapable of such lengthy voyages, a problem that delayed its commercialization until the late nineteenth century. The entire plant stock had to be transported for propagation on the new territories.
Introduction of Banana to the West

Banana in Rwanda

Banana in Rwanda
The top cash and food crops in Rwanda are bananas. By the fifteenth century, as a result of commercial interactions with Swahili states of East Africa, banana had been introduced from China and Indonesia to Rwanda by way of Indian Ocean.

They are grown year round by small scale farmers. Banana consumption in Rwanda is one of the highest in world.

According to report from the Food and Agriculture Organization, bananas are traditionally preserved or fermenting the dried products and in particular, flour belong the most important nutritionally, although beer is also a major product in Uganda and Rwanda where the utilization of green banana is particularly high.

Because they receive moderate rainfall throughout the year, prefectures such as Cyangugu, Gisenyi, Kibuye, Kibungo, and Kigali are traditionally banana producers.

Everywhere across the country, bananas also used for brewing beer as well as for cooking. They also provide a small income for the growers. Cheaper sources of food are purchased from the proceeds of the sale of banana beer.
Banana in Rwanda

Banana processing

Banana processing
There are many products that can be obtained from banana processing. In addition to dried banana, other important products are: canned banana slices, puree, juice, jams, jellies ands other products such as alcohol.

For canned slices, banana of B2 ripeness are peeled manually, cut into 0.6 cm slices, immersed in water with sulfite for up to 30 minutes, drained, and immediately canned in sucrose or high fructose corn syrup. For better consumer acceptance, pH is controlled with citric acid or ascorbic acid to 4.5 – 5.0 and if the customer requires it, cinnamon is added.

Banana puree is a major banana commodity used in the manufacture of baby foods confectionary, bakery products and dairy industries. Various techniques have been developed for banana puree production. There is a technology where bananas of B4 – B5 ripeness are peeled to the two extreme ends, cut manually, chopped, and blended with a small amount of citric acid and ascorbic acid solution to control polyphenols oxidase activity in the vacuum deaerator. They are immediately submitted to vapor heating up to 75 degree C, rapidly cooled and packed aseptically in sealed bags. With this technology, a high quality banana puree is obtained with minimal color changes for long shelf life when stored at 4 degree C.

For juice, the ripened fruits are peeled, chopped, macerated with enzymes (alpha-amylase and pectinases) and then pasteurized and packed. Banana juice as well as jams and jellies, still has low consumer acceptance but a high possible arises for this use in baby f00ds or alcohol.
Banana processing

Banana and Health Benefits

Banana and Health Benefits
When you compare it to apple, the banana has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the phosphate, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose – combine with fiber. In this form a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. The banana has also been found helpful for a number of illness and conditions:

Depression
Depressed people often feel better after eating a banana, this is because contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body coverts into serotonin. This powerful hormone is known to make the person relax, improve mood and generally make people feel happier.

PMS
The banana’s vitamin B6 helps regulate blood glucose levels, which can positively affect your mood and calm the nervous system.

Anemia
High in organic iron (versus inorganic iron used in supplements), bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and thereby improve anemia.

Blood Pressure and Brain Power
High in potassium, yet low in sodium, bananas are very effective in balancing blood pressure. Banana has the ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke. And for the same reason, students were found to be more alert and increased academic performance when eating banana for breakfast and at lunchtime.


Constipation
High in fiber, bananas in the diet have helped restore normal bowel functions in people suffering from constipation.

Heartburn
Having a natural antacid effect, bananas have helped people suffering with heartburn. Banana neutralizes over acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Morning sickness
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites
If bitten by an insect, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Banana skin is known for reducing swelling and irritation.

Stress
The banana’s potassium helps normalizes the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates the body’s water balance. During stress, our metabolic rate rises; this in turn drops potassium levels. Bananas can reverse this effect of stress.
Banana and Health Benefits