Gujarat University converts banana tree waste into nutritious edibles

In what will be music to the ears of banana cultivators, a Gujarat based agriculture university has successfully converted those parts of the fruit's plant which are usually thrown away as waste into highly useful products, including an edible candy with nutritional values.

Under a project 'A value chain on utilisation of banana pseudostem for fibre and other value added products', Navsari Agriculture University (NAU) professors have developed edible candy high in fibre and nutrition made out of central core of plant pseudostem.

The other products include fibre for textile and paper industry and organic liquid fertiliser which have been developed under the project which aims for efficient use of each and every component of banana plant.

"We have been working on the project for a year and developed a number of products using the banana plant, including edible candy," NAU professor B N Kolambe told PTI.

"This candy is made from the central core of the banana plant pseudostem, which is a nutrition-rich part. The candy has been developed on experimental basis and we are in the process of standardising the product," he said.

If parts of banana plant like leaves and pseudostem is used to develop value added products farmers would be the ultimate beneficiaries as banana is grown in large quantity in Gujarat, Kolambe further added.