Have you ever wondered if eating banana peels is a good idea? Bananas themselves are a great source of potassium, magnesium and folate, perfect for breakfast, post-workouts or snacking on the go. But can you use or eat banana peels to minimize food waste, and are there any benefits to eating banana peels? Banana peels have nutritional value, and they can be used outside of cooking to reduce organic waste. Research suggests that consuming banana peels is actually incredibly healthy, it contain protein and fat and safe for both humans and dogs to eat.
This was one of the products processed during the ATI RTC 8- conducted Zero Waste Banana Processing. The participants who were farmers were all amazed at how ‘pakpak og saging’ or banana peels can be eaten. All they knew was that banana peel is already trash or could be used as feeds for livestock but not for human consumption. Thanks to the food technology expert, Dr. Roberta D. Lauzon, Professor Emeritus of Food Science & Technology of the Visayas State University who served as resource person during the training. Dr. Lauzon demonstrated how to make burger patty out of banana peel. Aside from Pak-Sa Burger Patty, Pak-sa short for “pakpak sa saging”, other processed banana products made by the participants were flavoured chips (garlic, cheese and sweetened) and a beverage called Banana-Mango-Lemon Juice.
Additional topics delivered were Health Benefits of Bananas, Good Manufacturing Practices, Food Safety, Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP), Pricing and Marketing Strategies by Ms. Junalyn F. Palco and Ms. Ermalinda B. Cayago of ATI RTC 8.
Participants were 25 members of the Merida Agricultural Diversified System (MADS) and the Casilda-San Isidro-Can Unzo-Libas-Mahayag (CASACALIMA) Farmers Association. They were grateful that ATI RTC 8 responded and conducted this training on banana processing since banana is one of major agricultural products in the municipality.
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References:
Agricultural Training Institute Eastern Visayas
Livestrong.Com
Ivaluefood.com