Banana (Musa sp., Musaceae.) referring to a number of species or hybrids in the genus Musa, is native to the tropics of Asia. The word banana is derived from Arabic meaning 'finger.' There are more than 400 known varieties of bananas. The edible banana is the fruit of a sterile hybrid plant. The plantain, a larger, hybrid variety used more as a green vegetable, is also a dietary staple in many countries. Some Musa sp. are grown only for ornamental purposes for its handsome palm like appearance, and for fiber.

Banana is the 4th largest fruit crop of the world. Bananas and plantains are grown in several tropical regions of the world including Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. Because the banana plant reproduces and grows continuously as a series of suckers, the Hindus regard it as a symbol of fertility and prosperity. In India the leaves and fruits are tied or deposited on doorsteps of houses where marriages are taking place, during auspicious events and during religious festivals and prayers (pooja). A banana plant is an integral part of most Hindu ceremonies and is often installed in the corner of a rice field as a protective charm. At weddings and other gatherings food is served on the banana leaves. The fiber from the leaf stalk is commonly used to tie flowers into garlands.

The banana plant is a large herb growing up to 4-9 m with leaf sheaths that form trunk-like false-stem (pseudostem). The large leaves grow up to 9 ft long and 2 ft wide. The true underground stem grows out from the heart of the pseudostem and bears the inflorescence (flower stalk) at the terminal end. Flowers develop in clusters and around the main axis of the stem. The female flowers produce edible fruits without fertilization (parthenocarpy). Fruits mature in ~45-90 days after flowering.

One hundred grams of banana fruit pulp can supply up to 24 g carbohydrates, 11 mg calcium, 28 mg phosphorous, and 241 mg potassium. The fruits are eaten raw, processed as pulp and pureed for use in a variety of products including ice cream, yogurt, cake, bread, honey, and baby food, or sliced and canned in syrup, candied and used in baking, in fruit salads, and toppings, deep fried as chips, or dried and preserved with jaggery (molasses). Banana fruit extracts are used commonly to flavor beverages and dairy products. Green fruits can also be dried and ground into flour. Fermented ripe bananas are also used to make vinegar and alcoholic beverages. Other parts of the banana plant that are consumed as vegetables in India and Southeast Asia include the heart of the pseudostem and the male bud. The banana leaves are not edible as a vegetable, but are used in Asian cuisines for wrapping food while cooking. The banana leaves and pseudostems are used as cattle feed. Dried banana peel, because of its 30 to 40% tannin content, is used to blacken leather.

All parts of the banana plant have medicinal properties and used in the Indian Ayurvedic medical system- fresh plantain sap is administered orally as a purgative; the flower extracts to treat bronchitis, dysentery, ulcers, diabetes and gynecological problems; aqueous plant extracts to treat dysentery, diarrhea, and insect bites. Young leaves of the banana plant are used as disinfectant poultices to treat burns and the stem extracts to treat kidney stones.

Several oligosacharides including fructose, xylose, galactose, glucose and mannose occur naturally in banana making it an excellent prebiotic for the selective growth of beneficial bacteria in the intestine (1). Reportedly the banana flower extracts have a hypoglycemic effect (2-3). Banana peel and pulp contain high concentrations of dopamine that has high antioxidative properties (4). The potential use of banana fruit pulp to treat ulcers have been explored by a number of investigators (5-8).

REFERENCES
1. Gibson, 1998. Dietary modulation of the human gut microflora using prebiotics Br J Nutr 80(4):S209-212
2. Pari & Umamaheswari, 2000. Antihyperglycaemic activity of Musa sapientum flowers: effect on lipid peroxidation in alloxan diabetic rats. Phytother Res 14(2):136-138
3. Pari & Maheswari, 1999. Hypoglycaemic effect of Musa sapientum L. in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. J Ethnopharmacol 68(1-3):321-325
4. Kanazawa & Sakakibara, 2000. High content of dopamine, a strong antioxidant, in Cavendish banana. J Agric Food Chem 48(3):844-848.
5. Elliot et al., 1976. The effect of banana-supplemented diet on gastric ulcer in mice. Pharmac Res Commun 8:167¯171.
6. Best et al., 1984. The antiulcerogenic activity of the unripe plantain banana. Br J Pharmac 82:107¯116.
7. Goel et al., 1989. Stimulation of gastric and colonic mucosal eicosonoid synthesis by plantain banana. J Pharm Pharmacol 41:747-750.
8. Lewis & Shaw, 2001. A natural flavonoid and synthetic analogues protect the gastric mucosa from aspirin-induced erosions. J Nutr Biochem 12(2):95-100.

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