BARC TRANSFERS KNOW-HOW OF BANANA JUICE EXTRACTION

摘要

The know-how of Banana Juice Extraction was transferred to M/s. ITeMATRIX Co. Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand, on December 7, 2004. The lab-scale process which was developed jointly by Nuclear Agriculture & Biotechnology Division (NA&BTD) and Food Technology Division (FTD), BARC, basically pertains to extraction of fruit juice from banana and production of banana powder as a by-product. Banana is the most abundant fruit crop grown in India and its in-country production accounts for over 20 percent of total banana production in the world. A comparatively short post-harvest shelf-life of banana coupled with a dearth of sufficient and good quality transportation/storage facilities leads to perishing of 35-40 percent of this nutritious fruit before it reaches the consumer. One effective method of reducing this huge loss is to extract the juice out of the fruit before it perishes and preserve it. As of now, no commercially established process is available to achieve this. The moisture content of banana is in bound form as against many other fruits like apples and citrus fruits.