The annual harvest of banana and plantain (Musa spp.) is approximately 145 million tons worldwide. About 85% of this global production comes from small plots and kitchen or backyard gardens from the developing world, and only 15% goes to the export trade. Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana are the ancestors of several hundreds of parthenocarpic Musa diploid and polyploid cultivars, which show multiple origins through inter- and intra-specific hybridizations from these two wild diploid species. Generating hybrids combining host plant resistance to pathogens and pests, short growth cycles and height, high fruit yield, parthenocarpy, and desired quality from the cultivars remains a challenge for Musa crossbreeding, which started about one century ago in Trinidad. The success of Musa crossbreeding depends on the production of true hybrid seeds in a crop known for its high levels of female sterility, particularly among polyploid cultivars. All banana export cultivars grown today are, however, selections from somatic mutants of the group Cavendish and have a very narrow genetic base, while smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa, tropical Asia and Latin America use some bred-hybrids (mostly cooking types). Musa improvement goals need to shift to address emerging threats because of the changing climate. Innovative cell and molecular biology tools have the potential to enhance the pace and efficiency of genetic improvement in Musa. Micro-propagation has been successful for high throughput of clean planting materials while in vitro seed germination assists in obtaining seedlings after inter-specific and across ploidy hybridization. Flow cytometry protocols are used for checking ploidy among genebank accessions and breeding materials. DNA markers, the genetic maps based on them, and the recent sequencing of the banana genome offer means for gaining more insights in the genetics of the crops and to identifying genes that could lead to accelerating Musa betterment. Likewise, DNA fingerprinting has been useful to characterize Musa diversity. Genetic engineering provides a complementary tool to Musa breeders who can introduce today transgenes that may confer resistance to bacteria, fungi and nematodes, or enhance pro-vitamin A fruit content. In spite of recent advances, the genetic improvement of Musa depends on a few crossbreeding programs (based in Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Guadeloupe, Honduras, India, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda) or a handful of genetic engineering endeavors (Australia, Belgium, India, Kenya, Malaysia and Uganda). Development investors (namely international aid and philanthropy) should therefore increase their funding to genetically enhance this crop that ranks among the 10-top staple foods of the developing world.
There is limited information on the optimal processes to remove heavy metals in greywater. A Response Surface Methodology (RSM) via the Box-Behnken Design (BBD) approach was applied in this study to investigate and optimise the process variables of activation time (1.5-2.5 h), impregnation ratio (0.25-0.75) and zinc chloride (ZnCl2) percentage (20-60%) for the removal of heavy metal ions (Cd, Cu, Pb and Ni) associated with greywater treatment. The quadratic model was chosen to describe the effects of the process variables (activation time, impregnation ratio, ZnCl2 percentage) on predicting the responses (heavy metal ions removal) with low p-values (
The purpose of this study is to determine whether there are differences in hemoglobin levels before and after consuming ambon bananas in students of Prodi Kebidanan Metro. The specific purpose of this study was to determine hemoglobin levels before consuming ambon bananas, hemoglobin levels after consuming ambon bananas and the differences in hemoglobin levels before and after consuming ambon bananas in female students at Prodi Kebidanan Metro. This research is an intervention research with quasi experiment design with The One Group Pretest - posttest design. The population in this study were students in the first and second grade in Prodi Kebidanan Metro who lived in the dormitory as many as 149 female students. A sample of 49 people will take a portion of the population using simple random sampling technique. Data analysis used dependent sample t tests to test the mean increase in Hb levels before and after consuming ambon bananas. The results showed an average Hb level before consuming bananas at 12.51g/dl and an the average hb level after consuming bananas was 12.89g/dl, so the average increase in Hb levels was 0.39g/dl. The results of the analysis using the t-test dependent test obtained p value=0.000, which means that there are significant differences in Hb levels of students before and after consuming ambon banana.
Biochar derived from banana peels can be used as an alternative nutrient in the soil that can promote crop growth while reducing fertiliser usage. Biochar stability has proportional relationship to biochar residence time in the soil and potassium is one of the vital nutrients needed for plant growth. This research aims at providing optimum pyrolysis operating conditions like temperature, residence time, and heating rate using banana peels as feedstock. An electrical tubular furnace was used to conduct the pyrolysis process to convert banana peels into biochar. The elemental compositions of biochar are potassium, oxygen (O), and carbon (C) content. The O:C ratio was used as the biochar stability indicator. Analysis of results showed that operating temperature has the most remarkable effect on biochar yield, biochar stability, and biochar's potassium content. In addition, a multilayer feedforward artificial neural network model was developed for the pyrolysis process. Eleven training algorithms were selected to model the multi-input multi-output neural network (MIMO). The most suitable training algorithm was identified through four performance criterions which are root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and regression (R2). The results show that the Levenberg-Marquardt backpropagation training algorithm has the lowest error. From the chosen training algorithm, neural network was trained, and optimum operating parameters for banana peel were predicted at 490 °C, 110 min, and 11 °C/min with a high yield of 47.78%, O/C ratio of 0.2393, and 14.04 wt. % of potassium.
Foliar fertilization is a reliable technique for correcting a nutrient deficiency in plants caused by inadequate nutrient supply to the roots in acid soil. Soluble nutrients in banana pseudostem sap might be effective to supplement chemical fertilizers. However, the limited nutrients in sole banana pseudostem sap as foliar fertilization may not meet-up the nutritional demand of the crop. Field trials were, therefore, conducted with the combination of soil-applied fertilizers with foliar spray of banana pseudostem sap to increase nutrient uptake, yield, and quality of sweet corn planted in acidic soil. Three treatments viz., 100% recommended dose of fertilizers (RD) as control (T1), 75% of RD applied in soil with foliar application of non-enriched banana pseudostem sap (T2), and 50% RD applied in soil with foliar spray of enriched banana pseudostem sap (T3) were replicated four times. The combination of soil-applied fertilizer with foliar spray of enriched banana pseudostem sap (T3) showed a significant increase in leaf area index (11.3%), photosynthesis (12%), fresh cob yield (39%), and biomass of corn (29%) over control. Besides, the 50% RD of soil fertilization with foliar spray of enriched pseudostem sap increased nutrient uptake in addition to an increase in sugar content, phenolic content, soluble protein, and amino acids of corn. Considering the economic analysis, the highest net income, BCR (3.74) and MBCR (1.25) values confirmed the economic viability of T3 treatment over the T1. The results suggest that foliar spray of enriched banana pseudostem sap can be used as a supplementary source of nutrients to enhance nutrient uptake by corn while increasing yield and minimizing chemical fertilizer use in acid soil.
Zinc oxide (ZnO) photocatalysts were successfully synthesized via chemical and green, environmentally-benign methods. The work highlights the valorization of banana peel (BP) waste extract as the reducing and capping agents to produce pure, low temperature, highly crystalline, and effective ZnO nanoparticles with superior photocatalytic activities for the removal of hazardous Basic Blue 9 (BB9), crystal violet (CV), and cresol red (CR) dyes in comparison to chemically synthesized ZnO. Their formation and morphologies were verified by various optical spectroscopic and electron microscopic techniques. XRD results revealed that the biosynthesized ZnO exhibited 15.3 nm crystallite size when determined by Scherrer equation, which was smaller than the chemically synthesized ZnO. The FTIR spectra confirmed the presence of biomolecules in the green-mediated catalyst. EDX and XPS analyses verified the purity and chemical composition of ZnO. Nitrogen sorption analysis affirmed the high surface area of bio-inspired ZnO. Maximum removal efficiencies were achieved with 30 mg green ZnO catalyst, 2.0 × 10-5 M BB9 solution, alkaline pH 12, and irradiation time 90 min. Green-mediated ZnO showed superior photodegradation efficiency and reusability than chemically synthesized ZnO. Therefore, this economical, environment-friendly photocatalyst is applicable for the removal of organic contaminants in wastewater treatment under visible light irradiation.
This review article explores utilization of banana waste (fruit peels, pseudo-stem, trunks, and leaves) as precursor materials to produce an adsorbent, and its application against environmental pollutants such as heavy metals, dyes, organic pollutants, pesticides, and various other gaseous pollutants. In recent past, quite a good number of research articles have been published on the utilization of low-cost adsorbents derived from biomass wastes. The literature survey on banana waste derived adsorbents shown that due to the abundance of banana waste worldwide, it also considered as low-cost adsorbents with promising future application against various environmental pollutants. Furthermore, raw banana biomass can be chemically modified to prepare efficient adsorbent as per requirement; chemical surface functional group modification may enhance the multiple uses of the adsorbent with industrial standard. It was evident from a literature survey that banana waste derived adsorbents have significant removal efficiency against various pollutants. Most of the published articles on banana waste derived adsorbents have been discussed critically, and the conclusion is drawn based on the results reported. Some results with poorly performed experiments were also discussed and pointed out their lacking in reporting. Based on literature survey, the future research prospect on banana wastes has a significant impact on upcoming research strategy.
Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum species is a common postharvest disease of banana fruit. We investigated and identified Colletotrichum species associated with anthracnose in several local banana cultivars based on morphological characteristics and sequencing of ITS regions and of the β-tubulin gene. Thirty-eight Colletotrichum isolates were encountered in anthracnose lesions of five local banana cultivars, 'berangan', 'mas', 'awak', 'rastali', and 'nangka'. Based on morphological characteristics, 32 isolates were identified as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and 6 isolates as C. musae. C. gloeosporioides isolates were divided into two morphotypes, with differences in colony color, shape of the conidia and growth rate. Based on ITS regions and β-tubulin sequences, 35 of the isolates were identified as C. gloeosporioides and only 3 isolates as C. musae; the percentage of similarity from BLAST ranged from 95-100% for ITS regions and 97-100% for β-tubulin. C. gloeosporioides isolates were more prevalent compared to C. musae. This is the first record of C. gloeosporioides associated with banana anthracnose in Malaysia. In a phylogenetic analysis of the combined dataset of ITS regions and β-tubulin using a maximum likelihood method, C. gloeosporioides and C. musae isolates were clearly separated into two groups. We concluded that C. gloeosporioides and C. musae isolates are associated with anthracnose in the local banana cultivars and that C. gloeosporioides is more prevalent than C. musae.
Fibres from banana’s stem are abundantly available in Malaysia. This study focused on the production
of woven fabric from banana pseudo-stem fibres. Yarn made of 100% banana stem and 100% cotton
yarn were produced. Two types of retting techniques were conducted, which are water retting and
retting using softening agent. The fibres were spun and weaved into plain weave fabric. All specimens
were evaluated for yarn twist, yarn evenness, yarn linear density and selected fabric physical
properties. The results obtained showed that banana stem fabric treated with softening agent has lower
area density and higher thickness. Weft sample retted in softening agent has higher bending length and
flexural rigidity than sample retted in water. This might be due to the decrement of yarn’s stiffness,
which eases the insertion of yarn during shedding process. Weft sample retted in water has lower
bending length due to coarser yarn and tends to break easily. It is found that retting banana stem fibres
with softening agent affect the yarn linear density, area density, fabric stiffness properties and flexural
rigidity of the fabric.
KEY MESSAGE: Three tau class MaGSTs responded to abiotic stress, MaGSTF1 and MaGSTL1 responded to signaling molecules, they may play an important role in the growth of banana plantlet. Glutathione S-transferases (GST) are multifunctional detoxification enzymes that participate in a variety of cellular processes, including stress responses. In this study, we report the molecular characteristics of five GST genes (MaGSTU1, MaGSTU2, MaGSTU3, MaGSTF1 and MaGSTL1) cloned from banana (Musa acuminate L. AAA group, cv. Cavendish) using a RACE-PCR-based strategy. The predicted molecular masses of these GSTs range from 23.4 to 27.7 kDa and their pIs are acidic. At the amino acid level, they share high sequence similarity with GSTs in the banana DH-Pahang (AA group) genome. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the deduced amino acid sequences of MaGSTs also have high similarity to GSTs of other plant species. Expression analysis by semi-quantitative RT-PCR revealed that these genes are differentially expressed in various tissues. In addition, their expression is regulated by various stress conditions, including exposure to signaling molecules, cold, salinity, drought and Fusarium oxysporum f specialis(f. Sp) cubense Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4) infection. The expression of the tau class MaGSTs (MaGSTU1, MaGSTU2 and MaGSTU3) mainly responded to cold, salinity and drought while MaGSTF1 and MaGSTL1 expressions were upregulated by signaling molecules. Our findings suggest that MaGSTs play a key role in both development and abiotic stress responses.
Matched MeSH terms: Musa/enzymology; Musa/genetics*; Musa/growth & development
Natural fiber reinforced composites are recognized as better materials for structural components due to their inherent properties. However, milling these materials presents a number of problems, such as surface delamination, which appeared during the machining process, associated with the characteristics of the material and the cutting parameters. Therefore, in this study, machining parameters and the influence of the banana fibers under delamination were investigated. Result showed that machining parameters has a significance effect on the delamination of banana fiber reinforced polyester composites.
Endophytic fungi inhabit apparently healthy plant tissues and are prevalent in
terrestrial plants, especially root tissues, which harbour a wide assemblage of fungal
endophytes. Therefore, this study focused on the isolation and characterisation of
endophytic fungi from the roots of wild banana (Musa acuminata). A total of 31 isolates of
endophytic fungi were isolated from 80 root fragments. The endophytic fungi were initially
sorted according to morphological characteristics and identified using the sequences of
the translation elongation factor-1α (TEF-1α) gene of Fusarium spp. and the Internal
Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions of other fungi. The most common fungal isolates were
species of the genus Fusarium, which were identified as F. proliferatum, Fusarium sp.,
F. solani species complex, and F. oxysporum. Other isolated endophytic fungi included
Curvularia lunata, Trichoderma atroviride, Calonectria gracilis, Rhizoctonia solani,
Bionectria ochroleuca, and Stromatoneurospora phoenix (Xylariceae). Several of the
fungal genera, such as Fusarium, Trichoderma, Rhizoctonia, and Xylariceae, are among
the common fungal endophytes reported in plants. This study showed that the roots of wild
banana harbour a diverse group of endophytic fungi.
Different concentrations of N6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and indole acetic acid (IAA) in Murashige and Skoog based medium were assessed for their effects on shoot multiplication, nodule-like meristem proliferation and plant regeneration of the Malaysian banana cultivars Pisang Mas, Pisang Nangka, Pisang Berangan and Pisang Awak. BAP at 1-14 mg L-1 with or without 0.2 mg L-1 IAA, or BAP at 7-14 mg L-1with the same concentration of IAA, was evaluated for shoot multiplication from shoot tips and the proliferation of nodule-like meristems from scalps, respectively. Plant regeneration from scalps was assessed using 1 mg L-1BAP and 0.2 mg L-1 IAA separately, or a combination of these two growth regulators. Data on shoot multiplication, the proliferation of nodule-like meristems with associated plant regeneration were recorded after 30 days of culture. A maximum of 5 shoots per original shoot tip was achieved on medium supplemented with BAP at 5 mg L-1 (Pisang Nangka), 6 mg L-1(Pisang Mas and Pisang Berangan), or 7 mg L-1 (Pisang Awak), with 0.2 mg L-1 IAA. BAP at 11 mg L-1 with 0.2 mg L-1 IAA induced the most highly proliferating nodule-like meristems in the four banana cultivars. Plant regeneration from scalps was optimum in all cases on medium containing 1 mg L-1 BAP and 0.2 mg L-1 IAA. This is the first report on the successful induction of highly proliferating nodule-like meristems and plant regeneration from scalps of the Malaysian banana cultivars Pisang Mas, Pisang Nangka, Pisang Berangan and Pisang Awak.
The textural and sensorial properties of the cookies prepared by partial substitution of wheat flour with two types of unripe banana flour (UBF) were studied. The green matured unripe banana (Musa x paradisiaca var. Tanduk and Musa acuminata var. Emas) was used to partially substitute the usage of wheat flour at 0% (control), 25% and 50% level in the formulated plain cookies. Textural (hardness) and sensorial properties were conducted on all samples. Substitution of UBF to formulation of cookies had increased the hardness of cookies (ranging from 967 N to 1665 N) compared to the control except for substitution of Emas banana flour (EBF) at 50% which was not significantly difference (p > 0.05) with control sample. The substitution of 25% of Tanduk banana flour (TBF) showed the highest mean score in overall acceptability (6.81 ± 1.18) compared to all treated samples. TBF substitution is feasible up to 50% substitution while for EBF, the substitution only up to 25% level in this study.
The aim of this study was to determine the effects of xanthan gum and carrageenan on the
oil uptake and acceptability of banana (Musa acuminate) fritters during repeated deep fat
frying. Banana namely ‘Pisang Awak’ at maturity stage 6 were peeled, cut and dipped into 3
batter formulations containing 1% carrageenan, 1% xanthan gum and a control. The bananas
were deep fried at 170±5°C for 3 minutes in 2.5L cooking oil without oil replenishment for
3 consecutive days. The moisture, oil content, texture, colour and acceptability of the banana
fritters were evaluated at first and every 10th frying cycles. Results indicated that the oil and
moisture content of fried bananas were dependent on frying cycles. The oil content increased
while the moisture decreased with increased in frying cycles. There was significant reduction
(p0.05) in terms of overall acceptance between
treated and untreated. Hence, 1% xanthan gum was effective in reducing oil absorption of
banana fritters without affecting the overall sensory acceptability
The influence of variety (Cavendish and Dream), stage of ripeness (green and ripe) and parts (pulp and peel) on antioxidative compounds and antioxidant activity of banana fruit was investigated. The TPC and TFC ranged widely from 75.01 to 685.57 mg GAE/100 g and 39.01 to 389.33 mg CEQ/100 g of dry matter respectively. Cavendish banana flour contained higher TPC and TFC compared to Dream variety. TPC and TFC values of banana peel were higher than those of banana pulp. Also, green banana showed higher TPC and TFC values than those of ripe fruit. Radical scavenging activities (inhibition of DPPH) of the extracts ranged from 26.55 to 52.66%. Although Dream banana peel extracts appeared to have low TPC and TFC, its antioxidant activities were ranked moderate to high. This implies that antioxidative compounds other than phenolics and flavonoids were probably responsible for inhibition of DPPH.
The influence of different fermentation methods and turning of cocoa beans on the cocoa bean’s quality was studied. Both shallow box covered with banana leaves (SBBL) and shallow box without banana leaves (SBWL) were used throughout fermentation (120 hours). The initial microbial load for SBBL and SBWL was 5.35±0.18 and 5.19±0.21 log CFU/g before increased to 6.27±0.08 and 6.17±0.03 log CFU/g, respectively at the end of fermentation (120 hours). The titratable acidity of the cocoa beans increased steadily until 72 hours before decreased slightly to 1.34±0.07 (SBBL) and 0.75±0.15 (SBWL) at the latter stage of fermentation. The cocoa beans fermented under SBBL were less acidic than those found in SBWL. Turned cocoa beans produced better quality of cocoa with less acidic compared to the one without turning. Cocoa beans with periodical turning recorded higher percentage of brown beans for both SBBL (73%) and SBWL (69%); percentage of purple beans decreased to about 7-8% for cocoa fermented in respective methods mentioned above. No slaty beans were recorded throughout the study. This study suggests that the use of shallow box with banana leaves can produce cocoa beans with superior quality.
The physical attributes (pH and colour), cooking yield, textural and mechanical properties (firmness, tensile and texture profiles analyses) and structural breakdown properties (multiple extrusion cell with added artificial saliva) of five yellow alkaline noodle (YAN) formulations were studied. Samples used were noodles with (a) typical formulation (control), (b) soy protein isolate (SPI), (c) soy protein isolate plus microbial transglutaminase enzyme (SPI/MTGase), (d) green banana pulp flour (GBPu) and (e) green banana peel flour (GBPe). Compared to other noodles SPI/MTGase noodle showed significantly (P < 0.05) higher values in terms of textural, mechanical and breakdown properties. Incorporating SPI, banana pulp and peel flours into the noodles had imposed some differences on most of the mechanical and textural parameters from the control YAN. However, these noodles could not be clearly distinguished in term of structural breakdown properties.
Blood disease bacterium A2 HR-MARDI was isolated from banana plants infected with banana blood disease and which were planted in Kuala Kangsar, Malaysia. Here, we report a draft genome sequence of blood disease bacterium A2 HR-MARDI, which could provide important information on the virulence mechanism of this pathogen.