Banana Value Addition
Banana is an excellent source of raw materials for various industries such as: packaging, bio-fuels, textile, pharmaceuticals, confectionery, agro-inputs, winery, and distillery.
It’s a food security crop that grows throughout the year and generates a lot of biomass as it is being grown for the fruit, leaving the pseudostem, male bud, peels and leaves in the garden to rot away as manure.
It’s a food security crop that grows throughout the year and generates a lot of biomass as it is being grown for the fruit, leaving the pseudostem, male bud, peels and leaves in the garden to rot away as manure.
The pseudostem is chopped into smaller pieces to easily rot away which makes this process very labor intensive and time consuming.
Better yet, all this has industrial potential which will increase the economic benefits of banana and address the high cost of urban waste management presented by banana waste.
Better yet, all this has industrial potential which will increase the economic benefits of banana and address the high cost of urban waste management presented by banana waste.
INDUSTRIAL POTENTIAL OF THE BANANA CROP
Recognizing the commercial value of banana will to spur a range of industries servicing various sectors of the economy. Such industries include already established products at local and international market as well as potential substitutes to existing products.
POTENTIAL BANANA PRODUCTS
POTENTIAL BANANA PRODUCTS
Banana has various products that can be derived from value addition that have great economic potential. These include:-
|
Banana Part |
Potential Product |
Market Segment |
|
Fuit |
Resistant starch, Banana flour, Banana wine, Liquor, Puree, crisps, Juice, noodles, Vinegar, Ice cream, Figs, jam, Soups, sweetener etc |
Pharmaceutical, food supplements, confectionery, food & beverage, snack foods, food preservations, etc
|
|
Fuit Peel |
Bioplastics, Feeds, Briquettes, Adhesive gum, Ash etc |
Bio-mulching film, Livestock, Eco-friendly Energy, Construction Engineering – e.g., leaky pipes, fertilizer etc |
|
Leaves |
Dyes, Crockery (Disposable plates, spoons), Fragrances, Writing paper, boxes & envelopes, Biodegradable plastics, Flavours etc |
Textile, kitchen ware, Beauty, Paper industry, Packaging, Food, Pharmaceutical etc |
|
Pseudostems - Fibre |
Woven carpets, ropes, rugs, furniture, hair extensions, insulation materials, paper (tissue, boards, packaging, tea bags, currency notes), animal feeds from the fibre extraction residue, textiles: yarn, floor tiles reinforcements, Substrate for mushroom production etc |
Interior design, Fashion, Beauty, Construction, Paper industry, Livestock, Textile, Agribusiness, Tyre industry, Hygiene, Art etc |
|
Male buds |
Dyes (food, textiles, medicines, etc) Sauce/soup, vegetable ,Health drink |
Food, Pharmaceutical, Vegan Food |
|
Corms |
Ethanol, Banana refuse to generate electricity, Methane, Methanol |
Bio-energy, Methane, Beverage, industrial solvent |
The industrialized banana sector will result in full utilization of the banana plant (corm, pseudo stem, fruit and leaves) as opposed to current use of the fruit alone. Consequently, the monetary value accruing from a banana plant will increase and so will the returns on investment in banana production.
