Bananas and plantains form the staple food for millions of people across globe, providing balanced diet than any other fruit or vegetable. It is endowed with rich source of carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals. Banana as dessert and plantain as food with high vitamin A (beta-carotene) content provides nutritional security to huge population,world over. Being fat free, as a dessert fruit it aids in digestion with a calorific value of 90 Kcal per 100 g fruit and a good source of potassium which is good for heart patients. The dessert bananas are generally eaten as fresh fruit, while plantains or cooking bananas are boiled, steamed, fried or roasted. The plants are considered as the symbol of ‘prosperity and fertility’. It has greater socio-economic value and multifaceted uses, hence referred as ‘Kalpatharu’ (Plant of Virtues). Thus, both banana and plantain provide food, nutrition and social security to millions of people. Of late, banana is emerging as an industry and has greater contribution to the economy of the many developing countries of the world.
National Scenario
Bananas and plantains are the fourth most important staple crop in the world and are critical for food security in many tropical countries. They are grown in more than 130 countries cross the world in an area of 10.10million ha producing 121.85 million tonnes of banana and plantain (FAO, 2009). India is the largest producer of banana in the world, producing 29.80 MT from an area of 8.30 lakh hectares with a productivity of 35.9MT/ha. Banana is grown almost in all the states of the country.
However, the major banana growing states are: Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu has the largest area (1.25 lakh ha)under banana cultivation, followed by Maharashtra (0.82 lakh ha), Karnataka (1.12 lakh ha) and Andhra Pradesh(0.79 lakh ha). Tamil Nadu also holds top position in production of banana and plantain (8.25 million tons), followed byMaharashtra (4.30 million tons). With respect to productivity also, Tamil Nadu records the highest productivity (65.80t/ha), followed by Gujarat (61.50 t/ha), Maharashtra (52.5 t/ha), Bihar (47.6 t/ha) and Madhya Pradesh (45.2 t/ha)(NHB, 2012).
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| Image courtesy : wikipedia |
Processing adds value to the agricultural produce starting at the post harvest level, which can be divided into two namely, primary processing and secondary processing. In India, primary processing is carried out in large extent, which includes grading, sorting, cutting, seeding, shelling packaging etc. and secondary processing involves slightly complicated processes like pasteurization, baking, thermal processing, freezing, etc., which needs sophistication.
Scenario of Fruits Processing Industry
Though India is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, still only about 2.0 % of the total productionis processed, while in other developed countries like USA, 70% of total production is converted or processed into diversified products. In India there are over 5000 fruit and vegetable processing units registered with FPO.Of these units, about 70% are in the cottage and household sector. The domestic consumption of processed foods in India is growing at rate of more the 10% annually. These are the positive indicators of the growth in processed fruit industry sector. The wine industry in India has come into prominence lately and has been receiving support from the Government as well. The market for this industry has been estimated to be growing at around 25% annually. Maharashtra has emerged as an important state for the manufacture of wines.
Processing of banana and plantain in India
Since fresh bananas and plantains are available throughout the year, the scope for processing and value addition has not gained real momentum yet. A sizeable quantity of banana is going as waste every year due to improper handling, transportation, storage and ripening practices. This has necessitated the importance to go for processing and product development through value addition of banana. Moreover, urban pressures, changes in lifestyles, food habits have forced many people to consume processed foods and hence, banana may find better future with regards to its processing and value addition. During market glut and excess production, the produce may be converted into value added products; to be stored for longer time and to fetch more prices. There is great scope and demand for development of value added products in banana and plantain and commercialization in domestic and international markets.
Profitable Value added products of Banana
In banana and plantain, the value addition through processing have resulted in development of various value added products such as Fig, Juice, Bar, Jam and Sweet Chutney from pulp of ripe banana; Flour, Baby Food, Health Drink, Sauce, Pickle and Chips from pulp of unripe banana; Pickle from flower (male bud) of banana; Candy and Pickle from centre core stem of banana and Fibre from pseudostem sheath of banana, which involves a certain degree of sophistication. Most of these processes do not require very heavy investment in machinery. It can be set up in cottage to small scale sector. Besides banana fruit, other parts of plant like flower and true stem are also used traditionally or cooking in south and east India.Leaves are used as hygienic bio-plates and pseudostem for making threads and fibers. Banana fibre and fibre-based products are gradually pickingup as commercial products in south India.
source:agriculture today yearbook 2012
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