323 MOHAPATRA et al: BANANA AND ITS BY-PRODUCT UTILISATION: AN OVERVIEW Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research Vol. 69, May 2010, pp. 323-329 *Author for correspondence Tel/Fax: +91-02692-261302/ext 30 E-mail: debabandya@gmail.com Banana and its by-product utilisation: an overview Debabandya Mohapatra 1 *, Sabyasachi Mishra 2 and Namrata Sutar 1 1 Faculty of Food Processing Technology & Bio-energy, Anand Agricultural University, Anand 388 110, India 2 Department of Process & Food Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering & Post Harvest Technology (CAEPHT), Central Agricultural University, Ranipool, Gangtok 737 135, India Received 08 July 2009; revised 16 February 2010; accepted 22 February 2010 Banana serves as an ideal and low cost food source for developing countries where most of the population rely mostly on bananas for food. Banana plant parts are useful as insecticide, antioxidant, colour absorber, in preparation of various functional foods, wine, alcohol, biogas, cattle feed etc. This review discusses usefulness of banana fruits, peel, leaves, pseudostem, sheath, pith and male bud, and prospects of using these materials in industry. Keywords: Banana, Banana male bud, Banana peel, Banana pith, Banana pseudostem, Banana sheath Introduction Banana is the second largest produced fruit after citrus, contributing about 16% of the world’s total fruit production 1 (Table 1). India is largest producer of banana, contributing to 27% of world’s banana production. Incidentally, production of banana in India has surpassed mango production. In India 2 , Tamil Nadu is the leading producer of banana, followed by Maharashtra (Table 2). Biological Evolution and Nomenclature of Banana Plant Banana is one of the most widely grown tropical fruits, cultivated over 130 countries, along the tropics and subtropic of Capricorn. Edible bananas are derived from Australimusa and Eumusa series, which have different origins from same genus. Most of the edible bananas are either derived solely from Musa accuminata or are hybrid between two wild diploid species, M. acuminata Colla and M. balbisiana Colla; which contributed to A and B genomes, respectively. Plant has an origin from India and eastern Asian region (Malaysia and Japan) and some varieties are found to be genetically linked with some species from Africa. Polyploidy and hybridization of A and B genomes has given rise to diploid (AA, AB, BB), triploid (AAA, AAB, ABB, BBB) and tetraploid (AAAA, AAAB, ABBB, AABB) bananas. Various other varieties also exist naturally or developed by hybridisation of these genomes, which have different nomenclatures 3,4 . Three common species of Musa (M. cavendishii, M. paradisiaca and M. sapientum) are widely grown in the world. M. cavendishii, pure triploid acuminate (AAA group) known as dessert banana, is sweeter and less starchy than M. paradisiaca, while M. sapientum, known as true banana, is usually eaten raw when fully mature. Both M. paradisiaca and M. sapientum belong to AAB group 5 and are characterized by higher starch concentration compared to pure acuminate group. Cooking banana falls under ABB (Pisang Awak, Bluggoe) and BBB (Saba banana) group and has predominant M. balbisuana genes 4 . There is a great diversity of dessert bananas in terms of plant stature, fruit size and colour (yellow, green, red, and orange), namely M. nana Lour for Dwarf Cavendish, M. rubra Firming von Wall for red banana, M. corniculata Lour for horn plantain, and many others 4,6 . Most productive cultivars 7 are Cavendish bananas and giant French plantains (productivity value, >30 t/ha/yr). Out of over 50 varieties of banana cultivated across India, 20 are commonly grown (Table 2). This paper reviews dessert bananas, belonging to both AAA and AAB groups.