Banana fruit which belongs to the family Musaceae is one of the most widely distributed and
consumed fruit in the world especially in tropical and subtropical countries. People only consume the
banana’s pulp and dump its peel as solid waste. This gives a very serious agricultural waste disposal
and eventually cause environmental problems that keep worsen each day. Thus, this study concern
on the phytochemical content and the antioxidant in peel extracts of unripe Cavendish and Dream
banana. The dried peels of banana fruit were grinded and extracted by using ethanol as the extraction
solvent. The percentage yield of the ethanol extract of unripe Cavendish and Dream banana fruit
peels were 17.765 % and 17.081 % respectively. The banana peel extracts were screened for the
presence of bioactive compounds which showed the presence of phenols, flavonoids and tannins.
Antioxidant activity of the banana peel extracts was evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl
(DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. The concentration of the peel extracts required for 50 %
inhibition of DPPH radical scavenging activity ( ) were recorded at 90.28 μg/ml for Cavendish
and 113.09 μg/ml for Dream banana. The extracts of both banana peels definitely showed potential
as a sources of natural antioxidant.