Utilization Of Banana By-Products In Food And Non-Food Applications

Banana (Musaceae) is one of the world’s most important fruit crops that is widely cultivated in tropical countries for its valuable applications in food industry. Its massive by-products are a good source of valuable raw materials for other industries by recycling agricultural waste. This prevents an ultimate loss of huge amount of unused biomass and environmental issues. Maubon Food Co. Ltd was the company identified as it is one of the local pioneers in the transformation of green bananas into banana chips in Mauritius. The breakthrough in the utilization of banana by-products such as peels, leaves, pseudostem, stalk and inflorescence in various food and non-food applications by Maubon Food Co. Ltd are discussed. Further recommendations serve as thickening agent, coloring and flavor, alternative source for macro and micronutrients, nutraceuticals, livestock feed, natural fibers, and sources of natural bioactive compounds. Future prospects and challenges are the important key factors discussed in association to the sustainability and feasibility of utilizing these by-products. Also it is important that the by-products be turned into highly commercial outputs in order to sustain this renewable resource and provide additional income to small scale farming industries. Introduction:Banana is one of the initial crops cultivated in the past of human agriculture.

The origin of this plant family stretches from India to the Southeast Asian region. Its cultivation and consumption in the recent eras made it the world second major fruit crop with an estimated gross production exceeds 140 million tones (FAO, 2016). A large portion of the consumable bananas are developed for their fruits, thus banana farms could produce a few tons of underused by-products and wastes. Without proper agricultural waste management practice, huge amount of valuable undiscovered commodity will be lost and causing serious environmental harms. The local individuals have been using these plants more than just for nourishment purposes however have started to investigate the potential outcomes of using banana plants in their daily life (Essien et al. 2005; Shah et al. 2005; Yabaya and Ado 2008). Banana by-products have been utilized for wrappings foods, garments and used in various ceremonial events and the usage grows through cultural diversification. Modern horticulture generally groups banana into fruit crop or cash crop alongside with several other crops such as oil palm, sugarcane, pineapple, mangoes and rice. Similarly, a portion of these products do produce vast amount of cellulostic waste termed as agricultural waste or biomass. Advancement in managing such a huge amount of agricultural waste or biomass is a ceaseless challenge and recent trends support the use of this biomass for value added purposes to fulfill the need in the areas such as sustainable power source, fiber composites and textiles, food alternatives and animal feed (Rosentrater et al. 2009). Studies on the cellulostic fibers from other agrarian wastes, for example, from the oil palm ventures demonstrated the considerable capability of these by-products to become a commercial raw material in making highly demanded items such as paper and fiber composites (Bakar et al. 2007; Wan Rosli et al. 2007). Banana is one of the most consumed fresh fruit in Mauritius.

Nonetheless, there exists a lot of potential for the exploitation of the fruit by the food processing industry. This is better outlined by Maubon, with 25 years of existence, it is one of the pioneers in the transformation of green bananas into banana chips. Maubon Food Co. Ltd also known as Food Worth Co. Ltd, located at La Flora in the south of the island. There was a time when banana fries were not always encouraged for consumption. In the supermarkets, the order was drop by drop, six bags a week. Maubon Foods, as the name suggests ‘Mau’ for Mauritius and ‘bon’ meaning good in Creole, on the verge of collapse, came back to life in 2005. On the shelves of supermarkets thousands of sachets were added each month. The reputation of the company is today internationally known. Its fries are exported to Italy, Germany, Great Britain and South Africa. Mr. Ved Luchmun, general manager of the company, admits to being tempted by the banana while the potato chips flood the local market. "The Mauritian has always been used to eating bananas in two forms: ripe or curry. He needed something new, "he said. And this is where the company started. The production of banana chips is 100% manual, from peeling to cutting, and from frying to packaging.

The factory works in an eco-mode system where every part of a banana tree is used: the banana for fries, the peels are used for compost, banana leaves are exported, the banana flower (blossom) known to have so many benefits is canned and exported and is used in many dishes, the banana stem is crushed and the juice is consumed and what is more interesting the fiber produced after crushing is used to make artisanal products such as hats, bags, etc. Various studies have been done to enhance the use of banana by-products to meet the increasing demand of raw materials supply in various industries (Clarke et al. 2008; Doran et al. 2005; Emaga et al. 2008). Maubon Co. Ltd covered new and alternative ways in creating new products and applications with value added approach at the cost of recycling banana agricultural wastes. There is a continuous need to create and invent new products with value-added applications from alternative bio-resources as means to build-up a sustainable civilization. Because of high appeal for food products, energy, and other fundamental needs, progressive change in the current technological development towards using alternative resources in many industries is important to cater the needs of the ever-increasing world population (Mohammadi 2006).