A COMPARATIVE REVIEW ON MICRO-ORGANISM ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPOILAGE OF BANANA

A banana plant, also known as M. acuminata or its hybrid M. acuminata, M. balbisnna, is a plant grown for personal use that yields edible fruits that are often seedless and belong to that species. The word "banana" refers to a variety of species or hybrids of the genus Musa, family Musceae. They are perennial plants with long, the bases of these leaves (petioles) remain tightly united and form the trunk (Pseudostem) of a plant 2-9m (6-30ft) in height (Ploetz, 1994). Bananas are often solely produced as aesthetic plants or for their fiber in certain parts of the world. It may be discovered in tropical areas. The banana is a monocarpic plant that only flowers and bears fruit once before it perishes. the leafy protecting flag of the inflorescence. Most banana types have flower stalks that are positively geotropic, which means they bend from the vertical until their tips point upward. Banana flower stalks are parthenogenic and range in length from 30 to 90 cm (1-3 ft) (self-fertile). They appear in clusters of 12–20 below the bracks. A bunch of fruits is first formed by little groupings of fruits, called fingers, that are grouped in a spiral formation around the flower stem. A healthy banana plant will have 8–12 leaves during fruit set. Depending on the season and cultivar, fruits develop 60–100 days after blossoms first emerge. From a subterranean rhizone, suckers grow into new banana plants. The rhizome grows and is referred to as a mat when older plants die and new ones sprout. Bananas are multiplied via tissue culture, Bluzome pieces, and sucker plants (Ploetz 1994)

USES    

Bananas contain about 74% waterm 23% carbohydrate, 1% protein and 0.5 %.  A 4 – ounce banana without the peel is a good source of  vitamin Bb, Potassium, and fiber.

Banana fruit may be   eaten raw or as a cooked vegetable.   The fruit can also be processed for a number of food products.

Ripe fruits can be pulped for puree for in a variety of products including ice cream, yoghurt, cake, bread, nectar, and baby food.  Ripe banabas can be dried and eaten, or sliced canned with syrup, and used in bakery products, fruits salads and stoppings.  Green (unripened) bananas can be sliced and fried as chips. Whole green fruits can also be dried and ground into flour. Vinegar and alcoholic beverages can be made from fermented ripe bananas. Other parts of the banana plant are consumed besides the fruits. The heart of the growing pseudostem is eaten in India.   In Southeast Asia, the male bud is eaten as a boiled vegetable.

The banana leaves are not eaten but may be used for wrapping food in cooling. The banana foliage and pseudostems are used as cattle feed during dry periods in some banana producing areas.  Culled bananas are used sto feed cattle and hogs.  Bananas are a good energy source but need to be supplemented with  protein.  But not all micro-organisms associateeed with fruits are harmless”.  This  includes the lactic acid bacteria, coryne forms, pseudomonads, xanthomonads  micrococci, amny fungi and coliforms.  These microorganisms do play an important role in the spoilage of food and dictate the shelf life of fresh fruits. Most healthy raw produce will have on them anywhere from a  few thousand to millions of miucroorganisms per gram.  The presence of many of these microorganisms is a concern for causing product spoilage.  

Food spoilage is a major problems in all societies especially fruits, because  they provide nutrients for us, also are excellent environment for the growth of micro-organisms.  Microbial growth as  well as spoilage is controlled by factor related to the food itself or intrinsic factor and also to theenvironment where the food is being stored or what are described as    extrinsic factors.  Food composition is critical intrinsic factor that influences microbial growth, if a food consider primarily  of carbohydrates, spoilage does not result in major odours.  Thus, foods such as some fruits e.g. banana show spoilage by fungal growth.  Also, PH of a food also is critical because a low PH a food also is critical because a low PH favours the growth of yeasts and mold.  This is the case in banana fruit because it has PH of 2-5 physical structure of a food also can affected the course and extension of spoilage.  Banana fruits has outer  skin (peels) that project them from spoilage.