Banana early 19th century

Banana early 19th century
Banana were first found in the USA as early as 1904, these preconditions were not to be to be achieved until the second half of the nineteenth century: as late as 1873 the American Encyclopedia’s article on the banana did not even joint that it was ever available outside the topics.

The domestic and export industry in the Caribbean used to be based largely on the Gros Michel. Which in terms of quantity and cash value of the crop was one of the world’s most important fruit varieties.

Jamaica was the first country to undertake its cultivation on extensive scale; Costa Rica and Panama were not far behind.

In the Canary Islands, the west coast of Africa and Brazil the dwarf or Cavendish variety has been of greater commercial importance since the outset.

Beginning about 1925, great changes began to take place in banana production through the application of modern cultivation practices, especially in the Caribbean.

Careful examination to eliminate unsuitable soils before planting, efficient drainage practices, the selection of proper planting material, overhead irrigation and especial, the use of fungicides to control the Sigatoka disease and other developments put the industry onto an intensive basis.
Banana early 19th century

Banana in Malaysia

Banana in Malaysia
In Malaysia, bananas are being commercialized for export. Cavendish is being planted on a few sites, in dense stands allowing pathogens and pests present in this region of coevolution to reveal their epidemic for the fist time. These are as a rotation crop after old palm oil. The plantations are severely affected by Fusarium wilt. The plantations were established with no concern for this disease.

In Malaysia, banana is the second most widely cultivated fruit, covering about 26,000 ha with a total production of 530,000 metric tones. About 50% of the banana growing land is cultivated with Pisang Berangan and the Cavendish type.

However, banana production in Malaysia has decreased because of an increasing threat of diseases (particularly Fusarium wilt), high labor costs and marketing issues. However, it is still popular grown and contributes about 16% of the total fruit production areas.

Banana cultivation is largely a smallholder enterprise where farms are small, unorganized and farmers often adopt inferior technology. Apparently, this production practice often results in low yield and inferior quality.

Poor quality has been a major constraint to export of fresh fruits, including banana. It is therefore necessary to adopt good production practices and inefficient postharvest handling to ensure consistent supply of high quality banana for export.

There is also little research on banana. Local agriculture at the village level provided all the fruit needed for local markets, and the village production was left to its own devices, with research going to rubber, oil palm and later to rice. Although some academic research on bananas exists at universities and at the Malaysia Research and Development Authority (MARDI), there is little connection with commercial development.
Banana in Malaysia

Banana skins offer cheap pectin

Banana skins offer cheap pectin
Tapping into the trend for alternative sources of pectin, researchers have reported that pectin from banana skin could find application as a gelling agent. Characterization of banana skin pectin showed that the degree of methylation, an important parameter for gel strength, was wide ranging, indicating the ingredient could probably gel with calcium or with high sugar concentrations in acidic condition.

Also reports the ideal extraction conditions of the pectin for potential food uses: pH 2.0 for one hour at 90 degrees Celsius.

The functionality of pectin is dictated by the chemical fine structure, and the majority of the pectin used currently comes from citrus peel and apple pomace. Other sources of the ingredient have remained largely unexploited because of certain undesirable structural properties.

All the values of the extracted pectins were low, indicating that pectins from banana peels were slightly acetylated like commercial citrus pectin.

There could also be an economic interest in exploiting banana peel as a pectin source, suggested the researchers.

Developing countries such as Cameroon import several tons of pectin each year, although there is a vast resource of agricultural products and agro wastes which can be used to produce pectin. In this country, 600,000 metric tons of banana were produced in 2004 with 40 per cent of the total weight of the fruit being wastes which can be used to extract pectin.

The ingredient, with worldwide production estimated at 35,000 tonnes a year, is currently widely used as gelling agents in jams, confectionary, and bakery fillings, and stabilisers in yoghurts and milk drinks.
Source: www.foodnavigator.com
Banana skins offer cheap pectin