Background

There is a renewed interest in the utilisation of agricultural by-products, particularly those from crop plants, as a source of functional ingredients. The banana (Musa spp.) is a popular food crop worldwide but its inflorescence is often undervalued, similar to other agricultural by-products. As the banana inflorescence is traditionally consumed as food and medicine, it has the potential to be developed into functional foods.

Scope and approach

The present review systematically summarises the nutritional attributes, bioactive components and potential health-promoting properties of the inflorescence of the banana plant for the first time.

Key Findings and Conclusions: The findings thus far, particularly on the broad array of bioactive chemical constituents in the inflorescence and their corresponding biological activities, seem to justify its proposed use in various food industries. Perspectives on the current status of research and future work potentially leading to the development and commercialisation of the banana inflorescence into value-added products, are also provided. From this review, it is clear that the banana inflorescence has great potential to be developed into useful nutraceuticals and functional foods.

中文翻译：

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香蕉花序：其作为功能性食品成分的生物前景

背景

人们对利用农业副产品，特别是来自农作物的副产品作为功能性成分的来源有了新的兴趣。香蕉（Musa spp。）是全世界流行的粮食作物，但其花序通常被低估，类似于其他农业副产品。由于香蕉花序传统上是作为食品和药品消费的，因此它有潜力发展为功能性食品。

范围和方法

本综述系统地总结了香蕉植物花序的营养特性，生物活性成分和潜在的促进健康的特性。

主要发现和结论：迄今为止的发现，尤其是关于花序中广泛的生物活性化学成分及其相应的生物活性的发现，似乎证明了其在各种食品工业中的建议用途。还提供了有关研究的现状和可能导致香蕉花序开发和商业化为增值产品的未来工作的观​​点。从这篇评论中可以明显看出，香蕉花序有很大的潜力被开发成有用的保健食品和功能食品。