The Hindu Business Line : More focus sought on banana processing

THE fruit and vegetable processing industry in India is still in its infancy and only two per cent of the total output is processed, according to studies conducted by the Tiruchi-based National Research Centre for Banana (NRC).

Presenting a paper on the `Scope of processing and value addition in banana' at a technical workshop here on `Development of banana/plantain based food processing industry in Kerala' , Mr S. Sathiamoorthy, Mr C. K. Narayanan and Mr D. Ramajayam of NRC, said the share of banana in the fruits processed in the country is negligible.

Ironically, India is the largest producer of banana in the world with a total production of approximately 16.8 million tonnes from an estimated area of 4.70 lakh hectares.

Kerala is one of the important banana growing States in the country with a production of 0.629 million tonnes from an area of 75,000 hectares (as per 1998 data).

There are several varieties of banana grown in the State such as Nendran, Nyali Poovan, Poovan (Silk), Palayankodan, Red banana, Monthan, Elaivazhai and Kunnan.

While fresh bananas are widely consumed in developing countries, use of processed banana products is not very high. In India, the most popular processed banana product is `Nendran chips'. It has steadily grown from a household art to well-established cottage industry in Kerala. However, a brand with high visibility is yet to come into existence. Some bigger manufacturers are producing and exporting banana puree, flour and powder. Other processed products have not picked up so far in the market though there are few baby food and infant food manufacturers in the State.

There is tremendous scope for processing banana into several value-added products such as dehydrated banana, jam, juice, concentrates, blends, pickles, sauces, chutney, biscuits, wine, baby food, health drink, fruit bars, candy (fruit and stem), extruded foods and fibre products. Technology for several of these products have been developed and standardised at NRC.

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