Tips and Guides

Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red. Bananas can be eaten raw though some varieties are generally cooked first. Depending upon cultivar and ripeness, the flesh can vary in taste from starchy to sweet, and texture from firm to mushy. Unripe or green bananas and plantains are used as an ingredient in various dishes, such as in curries and stews, and are the staple starch of many tropical populations.

How to make banana flour:

Materials needed:

green bananas, saba or cardaba
salt

Utensils needed:

solar dryer
chopping board
measuring cups/spoon
basin
knife
grinder
sifter

Packaging materials:

plastic bag

Procedure:

1. Prepare brine solution; 1 tbsp. salt to 5 cups water.
2. Wash bananas and peel. Soak immediately in brine solution.
3. Wash again to remove latex.
4. Cut into halves and remove seeds.
5. Slice longitudinally at 1/3 cm. thick.
6. Dry in solar dryer for 8-10 hours.
7. Grind 2-3 times or until very fine.
8. Pass through a fine sieve and pack in plastic bags.

Source: DOST, photo from:diabetesdigest.com

Banana is one of the most common and widely grown fruit crops in the Philippines. It is also one of the country’s major dollar earners, and has consistently ranked next to coconut oil and prawns in terms of value earnings during the last five years.

In 1991, banana topped local production among the other major fruits such as pineapple and mango, thus eating up more than one-third of the production pie.

Banana has various uses. The ripe fruit is pureed, candied, and preserved in various forms when not eaten fresh. Its extract is used in the manufacture of catsup, vinegar, and wine. The unripe fruit is powdered and chipped.

In rural areas, the young leaves are pounded to suppress bleeding and treat wounds. The leaves are also widely used as packing materials for fruits and vegetables in market centers. Banana fiber is manufactured into rope, sack, and mat. Sheets of paper and paper boards are also made from banana peel. Banana blossom is exported dried. Filipino housewives use it in special dishes.

VARIETY

Banana is native to Southeast Asia where the climate is warm and humid. Of the 57 banana cultivars, the following are the most common in the Philippines:

1. Saba
grows to as tall as 20 feet; fruit is angular; has thick peel that is green when unripe, yellow when ripe; flesh is white when ripe; gestation period is 15 to 16 months. Read more…