PHYTOCHEMICAL, NUTRITIONAL PROFILE AND INVITRO ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF MUSA PARADISIACA FRUIT AND PEEL.

Abstract

Plantain (Musa paradisiaca) is an important food crop, while its peel is commonly discarded despite its potential to contain useful nutrients and bioactive compounds. This study compared the phytochemical profile, proximate composition, vitamin and mineral contents, and in vitro antioxidant activity of plantain fruit and peel. Phytochemical constituents were profiled using gas chromatography-based analysis, while proximate composition, vitamins, minerals and antioxidant activities were determined using the methods described in the underlying research project. The reported proximate results showed higher moisture (10.518%), fat (17.098%) and protein (11.20%) in the peel than in the fruit (8.342%, 7.715% and 10.15%, respectively), whereas the fruit had higher ash (8.515%), fibre (8.870%) and carbohydrate (56.408%) than the peel (7.428%, 3.858% and 49.898%). The peel showed greater DPPH scavenging activity across the tested concentrations, increasing from 93.097% at 10 mg/mL to 94.829% at 80 mg/mL, compared with 82.058–85.781% for the fruit. At 100–300 mg/mL, ABTS scavenging activity was also higher in the peel (67.019–71.247%) than in the fruit (55.180–59.408%). In contrast, ferric-reducing antioxidant power was higher in the fruit at the tested concentrations. Overall, the findings indicate that the peel contains measurable nutrients and exhibits promising in vitro radical-scavenging activity, while the fruit remains a substantial source of carbohydrate and showed stronger ferric-reducing activity. The results showed that the fruit and peels of Musa paradisiaca contained different phytochemicals, minerals, vitamins and antioxidant which are vital for human health and survival. The peels showed more potential than the edibles in the sense that it contained more phytochemicals, minerals, vitamins except in the antioxidants where the edibles contained more ferric reducing antioxidant power than the peels. Musa paradisiaca edible and peels are rich sources of macronutrients, dietary fiber and minerals, making them suitable for utilization in both human and animal nutrition.