Banana and Plantains: Improvement, Nutrition, and Health

Abstract

Banana is one of the oldest cultivated plant known for its dietary and medicinal properties. Banana is grown in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world and constitutes the staple food of the people. They are classified as dessert or sweet bananas and cooking bananas or plantains depending on whether they can be eaten raw or not. Banana plant parts such as the roots, pseudostem, fruits, and inflorescence is used in some or the other way and therefore it is rightly called as the “Kalpatharu” in India. Banana and plantains contain important bioactive compounds such as phenolics, flavonoids, carotenoids, biogenic amines, sterols, and antimicrobial compounds which make bananas a perfect functional food for health improvement. Presently, research is focused on exploring and identifying compounds, refining the techniques of isolation and purification, and using it in modern medicines. Moreover, bananas are also being used as a platform to produce and accumulate important nutrients like vitamins and minerals by biofortification strategies.