87 BANANA AND PLANTAIN AS MEDICINAL FOOD Nurhayati Nurhayati, Department of Agricultural Product Technology – Faculty of Agricultural Technology –Universitas Jember, Indonesia, Jl. Kalimantan No. 37 FTP UNEJ Jember 68121, Center for Development of Advanced Science and Technology – Universitas Jember, Indonesia, nurhayati.ftp@unej.ac.id; Dedy Eko Rahmanto, Department of Engineering – Jember State Polytechnic, Jl. Mastrip PO. BOX. 164 Jember 68121, dedyngrambe@yahoo.com INTRODUCTION Indonesia is mega diversity country with 25.000-30.000 plant species has 6.000 species of medicinal plants [1]. One of potential plants to be explored as medicinal plants is banana. The plant family Musaceae, composed of bananas, plantains, and ornamental bananas, originally evolved in Southeast Asia and surrounding tropical and subtropical regions. More than 145 million tons of banana and plantain were produced worldwide in 2011 according to FAO estimates. Banana are grown in nearly 130 countries. In addition to fruit, bananas and plantains provide many cultures with medicines, beverages, fibers, edible floral parts, dyes, fuel, steam for cooking, cordage, wrapping materials, etc [2]. Bananas are among the world’s leading food crops, after rice, wheat and maize. Banana is dessert fruit that its edible part is pulpy, firm to tender, free from seeds or pips, and has a characteristic flavour. Plantain is a cooking banana subgroup. Plantain resemble banana but are longer in length, have a thicker skin, and contain more starch. Most dessert banana cultivars in the world are AA or AAA, this last group includes almost all the cultivars sold to export market. Cooking bananas, often named plantains, are mostly AAB, ABB, or BBB [3,4]. Banana and plantain are important staple foods in many developing countries, especially in Indonesia. Musa are rich in vitamin C, B6, minerals, and dietary fiber. They are also a rich energy source, with carbohydrates accounting for 22% and 32% of fruit weight for banana and plantain, respectively. People annually consume 28 kg of banana and plantain per capita, or 155 kg per year, or almost half of 1 kg per day. Four African countries have the highest per capita consumption of banana/plantain in the world, with Uganda having the highest [2]. Recent knowledge diet may modulate various functions in the body and may play detrimental or beneficial roles in some diseases. Foods are expanding from emphasis on survival, hunger satisfaction, and preventing adverse effects to emphasizing the use of foods to promote a state of well-being and better health and to help reduce the risk of disease. The study investigated the beneficial/healthy effect of banana and plantain consuming. NUTRITION VALUE OF BANANA AND PLANTAIN Dessert bananas have become very popular in modern westernized diets and is basically a supplementary snack food. They are popular for their flavour, texture and convenience value, being easy to peel and eat. Bananas make a useful contribution to the vitamin A, C and B6 content of the diet, and are an important and immediate source of energy, often being eaten by sportspeople during competition. They are also cholesterol-free and high in fibre. It is not a whole meal or even a major part of a meal; therefore it differs from plantains and cooking bananas which often fit into the latter category. However, dessert banana is a good source of energy, due to its high carbohydrate content (twice the value of apples and three times that of citrus). A medium-sized banana contains 280 kJ which is more than deciduous or citrus fruits. The energy and nutritional value of banana and plantains relative to other some staple foods is shown in Table 1. Table 1. Energy and nutritional value of staple foods (bananas, plantain, rice, cassava, wheat, Date) Nutrition value (g/100 g edible portion) Staple Food Banana [2] Plantain [2 ] Date [5] Wheat [ 5] Rice [5] Cassava [5] Energy (kJ/ 100 g) 368 556 580 157 0 161 0 559 Protein 1.1 1.1 1.8 10.6 73 1.0 Fat 0.2 0.4 1.0 1.9 2.2 0.2 Carbohydrat e 22 31 36 71.1 61.6 31.9 Calcium 7 14 35 - - - Phosporus 27 32 350 - - - Iron 0.9 0.9 6.0 - - - Vitamin A 0.03 0.20 0.01 - - - Vitamin B (Thiamine) 0.04 0.05 0.07 - - - Vitamin C 10 20 30 - - - Ash - - - 1.4 1.4 0.7 Proceeding ICMHS 2016 ISBN 978-602-60569-3-1 Digital Repository Universitas Jember Digital Repository Universitas Jember