Ingredient Spotlight: Bananas

Bananas are a widely cultivated tropical fruit from the genus Musa and family Musaceae. The Cavendish variety is the most common. Asia produces more than half of the world’s supply of bananas.

Vital Ingredients:

Bananas are rich in vitamin B, C, and E. They have a rich source of Dietary fiber in both the pulp and the peel. The DF is subdivided into both soluble fiber (pectin, hemicellulose) and insoluble fiber (cellulose, lignin, and resistant-starch). The Banana peel definitely has more of this dietary fiber than the pulp. Bananas are also rich in bioactive ingredients like phenolics, carotenoids, phytosterols, flavonoids, etc, that contribute to our health when consumed.

Cancer Prevention:

Dietary fiber is an important topic of discussion as the resistant-starch, which is predominantly composed of amylose, is fermented by the microbiota in the colon to produce short chain fatty acids, in particular butyric acid, which in experimental models may help in colon cancer prevention and digestive health.

Effect on Microbiota, immune function and weight management :

Bananas are rich in prebiotic agents like indigestible carbohydrates. Prebiotics help the growth of Microbiota (microorganisms in the gut) that play a vital role in our immune system, our ability to extract nutrients from food, and also in our weight maintenance.

Regular consumption of Bananas may help the growth of beneficial microbiota of the Bifidobacteria group. This may help promote gastrointestinal health by limiting bloating symptoms. Human breastmilk contains oligosaccharides that also promote the growth of this bacteria and help in the immune health of the breast-fed infant.

Various applications:

This includes the use as a gluten free alternative in both Banana peel and pulp flour, which are both a rich source of fiber and bioactive agents that contribute to optimum nutrition.

Role as a health food:

Bananas are a very low cost natural energy source to athletes and people engaging in an exercise routine. They are a good source of carbohydrates, potassium and B vitamins, and a good source of dopamine, more so in peel than the pulp. This fruit is good for patients who are trying to go on a bland/convalescent diet when recovering from gastrointestinal illnesses.

We have briefly reviewed the various benefits of Bananas. I hope you feel encouraged to include this in your diet on a regular basis. As always, keep your nutrition and health in center focus and live long and strong!