Why are bananas and banana by-product substitutes an economical alternative to livestock feeds?
Feed cost account for 60 to 80% of livestock production costs (Ademosun, 1976) and the energy component of feed accounts for 60 to 70% and protein component 14 to 20% of feed costs. Since animals eat primarily to satisfy their energy needs, the energy source must be available, adequate and cheap. Fresh Bananas and Plantains have a high water content (78–80%), with the dry matter consisting mainly of starch (72%) which turns into simple sugars during ripening. The remaining material has a low content of protein, vitamins, and inorganic nutrients; the protein is very deficient in lysine, methionine and tryptophane. The fruits also contain varying levels of active tannins, the factor that is responsible for the astringency of raw, green bananas. The tannins reduce as ripening progresses because they are in the polymerized form. The tannins inhibit enzyme action and in particular the proteases, which reflects in the reduced digestibility of the crude protein fraction when raw green bananas
