P. Khawas¹, A. J. Das¹, N. Sit¹, L. S. Badwaik¹, S. C. Deka^1,

Culinary banana (Musa ABB) is an important ingredient of several dishes and is yet to be scientifically studied its nutritional and other biochemical compositions at different stages of development. It is one of the important nutritionally riches Musa sp and is a part of a balanced diet in Northeast India. Variations in nutritional and biochemical compositions associated with growth were studied at 20 (stage I), 35 (stage II), 50 (stage III), 65 (stage IV) and 80 (stage V) days after emergence (DAE) of banana inflorescence. Ash (7.03 g/100 g), protein (10.56 g/100 g), fat (1.50 g/100 g), phenol content (307.99 mg/100 g), radical scavenging activity (59.12% SA), linoleic acid (2.081 mg/100 g) and linolenic acid (1.210 mg/100 g) gradually declined with maturity. A rise in starch content from 12.36 to 22.66 g/100 g was observed with the maturity of banana. Maximum total carbohydrate was observed at stage III (32.15 g/100 g) and declined gradually. Out of 8 minerals tested, magnesium (Mg) was recorded the highest followed by potassium (K) and zinc (Zn) irrespective of the developmental stages of banana. Essential amino acids were found to be present at all the stages of development. The carotenoids (0.130 - 0.159 mg/100 g), vitamin A (0.028 - 0.038 mg/100 g) and thiamine (0.002 – 0.032 mg/100 g) were recorded at various stages of development of culinary banana. Pulp to peel ratio and total soluble sugars suggest that 50 DAE is the optimum stage of harvesting for culinary banana. However, young stages are rich in antioxidants, amino acids and fatty acids.

Culinary Musa ABB, biochemical compositions, days after emergence of inflorescence, developmental stages