BARC adds to banana bite

8216;8216;If the technologies developed for these are translated into commercial practice, it could generate positive impact on the agro-based economy as well as rural India,8217;8217; Dr K K Surendranathan had stated in early July during the launch of the project.

A new variety of bananas can be developed by exposing the shoot culture of banana plant to a low dose of gamma rays. Research by the Nuclear Agriculture Division on this variety of bananas8212;known as 8216;Basari 10gy8217;8212;has revealed that the fruit so developed is sweeter, less fibrous and ripens quickly.

According to Surendranathan, the products developed from this variety8212;banana juice, ripe banana powder and value-added banana peel8212;could have sustainable potential.

Unlike in the case of other fruits, it is difficult to extract juice from bananas either by grinding, crushing or squeezing. But the process developed by BARC enables extraction of over 80 per cent moisture as juice from the fruit8212;that means about 600 to 700 ml juice from 1 kg of Basari 10gy.

One of the most important features of this process, besides the yield, is that no external agent such as peptolytic enzymes or water is added for the extraction of the juice. At the same time, the left-over pulp retains a strong banana flavour, and can be ground and dried into fine banana powder.

Usually ripe bananas form a sticky mass when dried, cannot be powdered. However, the powder from Basari 10gy retains the aroma and taste of the fruit. While wine can be made from banana juice, banana powder can be the raw material for biscuits.

BARC research has also found a use for the banana peel. About 35 to 40 tonnes of peel get accumulated when 100 tonnes of Basari 10gy are processed. Industrial enzyme amylase can be made from the peels, says BARC.

This is through a method for solid state fermentation of the peels. At high specific gravity, it turns to amylase. On improving the protein concentration, the amylase can be used for industrial purpose.

With 13.90 million tonnes, India is the largest producer of bananas in the world, followed by Uganda 10.14 million tonnes. Amongst the fruit crops grown in the country, banana ranks first in production and third in area under cultivation. Grown in every state, the banana crop occupies an estimated 13 per cent of the total area under fruit crops in the country. Tamil Nadu is the largest cultivator of bananas 92,200 hectares followed by Maharashtra 72,200 hectares. However, productivity of bananas in Maharashtra is the highest in the country8212;60 metric tonnes per hectare.