Bananas– The war on wilt, Chemistry of bananas

Bananas– The war on wilt, Chemistry of bananas   ;Rody Blom, Saskia Bollerman, Janna Horjus, Koen Rurenga
Bananas, mainly consisting of carbohydrates (22.2 to 31.2 percent), are low in fats, cholesterol, and sodium.
They are extremeley high in potassium (400 miligrams to 100 grams of pulp), which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates the
body’s water-balance (Girish and Satish, 2008) and therefore makes bananas the perfect food to help beat high blood pressure (Debabandya et al., 2010).
Bananas are a good source of vitamin C (Stover and Simmonds, 1987) and vitamin B, which helps calm the nervous system (Singh and Bhat, 2003).
During ripening, the starch component is gradually converted to simple sugars (fructose, glucose, and sucrose), while the moisture content of the pulp increases.
The time of conversion to simple sugars can also be used to differentiate plantains from bananas, which are consumed raw.
Namely, plantains or cooking bananas converse later compared to raw bananas (McClatchey, 2000).
A study by Ashraf et al. (2010) proved that ripe bananas exhibit fluorescence when exposed to ultraviolet light,
suggesting that this allows animals which are able to see light in the ultraviolet spectrum, can more easily detect ripened bananas.
All parts of the banana plant have medicinal applications (Amit and Shailandra, 2006).
Antifungal and antibiotic principles are found in the peel and pulp of fully ripe bananas (Brooks, 2008).
A fungicide in the peel and pulp of green fruits is active against a fungus disease of tomato plants (Ponnuswamy et al., 2011).
Norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin are also present in the ripe peel and pulp (Ratule et al., 2007).
The first two elevate blood pressure; serotonin inhibits gastric secretion and stimulates the smooth muscle of the intestines (Anhwang et al., 2009).
Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking,
as the high levels of Vitamin C, A1, B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal (Mokbel and Hashinaga, 2005)
potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal (Mokbel and Hashinaga, 2005)