BANANA

Banana is one of the oldest fruits in the world. Native to the tropics, ripe bananas are sweet in taste and
are usually eaten raw - on their own or in fruit salads. The edible banana is a native of the warm moist
parts of Asia. It is not only the staple food of millions of people, but is also the most important commercial
fruit of the tropical areas of the world now. The fruit is delicious and seedless.
There are three main banana-producing regions in India

Banana is grown in almost all the regions of India i.e. South India, Western India and Eastern India
i.e. from Bihar to Assam.

Banana is grown in almost all Southeast Asian countries like Burma, Thailand, China etc. and also in
many Mediterranean and American countries.
GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS

Bananas require a warm humid climate and grow well at altitude of 5,000 feet.

70-80 inches of well-distributed rain throughout the year is desirable for a good crop.

Banana requires a rich, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter.
VARIETIES OF BANANA

Red plantain Tambdi kel, Raj kel and Ram kel

Bengal guji, Cavandish, Hirni, Basrai

Motheli

Rajeli

Sonkela or Safed Elaichi

Lal Elaichi, Karanjali, Sonkel of Poona
CONSTITUENTS
Bananas are best eaten after other foods so that they can aid in digestion. They contain plenty of calories,
vitamins A, B, C, D and E and many mineral salts such as calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, sulphur
and potassium. Bananas contain 75% water, a number of carbohydrates, a small amount of protein and
very little fat.
Moisture 70.1%
Protein 1.2%
Fat 0.3 %
Minerals 0.8 %
Fibre 0.4 %
Carbohydrate 27.2 % per 100 gms edible portion.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE
CULINARY USES
The different parts of banana, which are used, are fruits, leaves and stems.

Soft ripe banana is the first solid food given to babies.

Bananas in syrup, banana toast, dried bananas, baked bananas etc. are the various forms in which
this valuable fruit can be eaten. Bananas, topped with brown sugar and orange juice, baked and then
flambed with rum make an exotic dessert.

Unripe banana fruit as well as the inner core of the pseudostem is regularly cooked as a curry in the
banana growing areas.


This fruit is eaten both ripe and raw as a vegetable.

The ripe fruit, de-seeded, is often cut into longitudinal slices and dried in the sun and kept in well
covered jars, to be used as a dessert.

Juice of the fruit is sometimes made into fermented liquor.

Unripe bananas are used for cooking especially in the south e.g avial and also used for making
Banana chips.

Plantain flower or kel-ful is used as a vegetable.

Juice of the inner part of the stem, which is felled as soon as the fruit is cut, is used in preparing
wafer, biscuits.
MEDICINAL USES

Bananas are a flesh building fruit and quench thirst.

Bananas help build bones and is very good for jaundice because of their iron content.

One banana, thoroughly mashed, is a good remedy for dysentery in children.

Bananas cure all kinds of weakness and they especially help cure spermatorre.
Young tender leaves of banana tree form a cool dressing for inflamed and blistered skin.
GENERAL TIPS

When cutting ripe bananas, add a little lemon juice to prevent it from turning black because of
oxidation.