Review: Biological, antioxidant and phytochemical activities of Musa spp.

Abstract

Banana (Musa spp.) is a food with high nutritional value. Studies about its compounds have increased considerably due to the antioxidant and biological activities of the fruit. Thus, this article synthesized and organized data related to the phytochemical constituents, as well as antioxidant and biological activities of Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana and Musa paradisiaca, and evaluated the mutual influence and correlation of these activities. A bibliographic review was performed using the scientific databases Google Scholar, SciELO, Periódicos CAPES, Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Science Direct, PubMed and Scopus, applying the following terms: Musa spp., antioxidant, biological and phytochemical activities, combined by the Boolean operator AND. A total of 28 articles were selected from 2017 to 2022. The results indicated that bananas are rich in flavonoids, showed good performance in DPPH and FRAP antioxidant assays and have antibacterial, anticancer and antifungal potential. Previous literature reported that phytochemical constituents improved antioxidant performance, thereby enhancing the biological activities described.