Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 43 (2015) 1–6

Original Research Article

Provitamin A carotenoid content of unripe and ripe banana cultivarsfor potential adoption in eastern Africa

Beatrice Ekesa a,*, Deborah Nabuuma a, Guy Blomme b, Inge Van den Bergh c

a Bioversity International, Plot 106, Katalima Road, P.O. Box 24384, Kampala, Ugandab Bioversity International, c/o International Livestock Research Institute, P.O. Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopiac Bioversity International, Parc Scientifique Agropolis II, 34397 Montpellier Cedex 5, France

A R T I C L E I N F O

Article history:

Received 27 November 2014

Received in revised form 3 April 2015

Accepted 6 April 2015

Available online 27 May 2015

Keywords:

Biodiversity

Cooking banana

Dessert banana

East Africa

Food analysis

Food composition

Plantain banana

Provitamin A carotenoids

Vitamin A deficiency

A B S T R A C T

Changes in concentrations and retention of provitamin A carotenoids during ripening of eight non-

indigenous banana (Musa spp.) cultivars on trial for possible adoption in eastern Africa were established

through high performance liquid chromatography analysis. Predominant provitamin A carotenoids were

all-trans-b- and a-carotene, together constituting about 90% of total provitamin A carotenoids content.

Mean total provitamin A carotenoids ranged from 560 to 4680 mg/100 g fw) in unripe fruit and from

1680 to 10630 mg/100 g fw) in ripe fruit. All cultivars showed significantly higher provitamin A

carotenoid levels than popular local cultivars of the same genomic group and type. Cultivars’ retinol

activity equivalent (RAE) values when ripe ranged from 106 to 713 mg/100 g fw, indicating that 100 g of

ripe ‘Lahi’, ‘Apantu’, ‘Bira’, ‘To’o’, ‘Sepi’ and ‘HungTu’ fruit contain enough provitamin A carotenoids to

meet >100% of the dietary reference intakes (DRIs) of a child under 5 years of age, and between 15% and

102% for a woman of reproductive age. Although further studies need to be carried out to establish

retention following processing and bioavailability, these findings can guide consumer consumption

patterns to maximize vitamin A intake in banana-dependent regions and direct researchers in selecting

banana cultivars that help prevent vitamin A deficiency.

� 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Journal of Food Composition and Analysis

jo u rn al ho m epag e: ww w.els evier . c om / lo cat e/ j fc a

1. Introduction

Vitamin A deficiency is a major public health problem in thedeveloping world affecting 190 million children under 5 years old,particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia (WHO, 2009).Vitamin A deficiency leads to impaired vision, diminishes the ability tofight infections and decreases growth rate and bone development, andin severe cases can be fatal for children under 6 years of age (WHO,2004). The prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in the DemocraticRepublic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi was estimated at 42.2% and42.6%, respectively, in 2007, and is classified as a ‘‘severe public healthproblem’’ by the United Nations’ Standing Committee on Nutrition(SCN, 2010). Vitamin A deficiency primarily affects children andwomen and hinders the development of human potential, with effectson social and economic development (Ruel, 2001).

Strategies to address vitamin A deficiency include supplemen-tation, food fortification, dietary diversification and modification,

* Corresponding author at: Bioversity International, Plot 106, Katalima Road, P.O.

Box 24384, Kampala, Uganda. Tel.: +256 0782849593; fax: +256 414 286 949.

E-mail address: b.ekesa@cgiar.org (B. Ekesa).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2015.04.003

0889-1575/� 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

and public health and disease-control measures (Chakravarty,2000; Ruel, 2001). The dietary diversification and modificationapproach involves changes in food production practices, foodintake patterns, and traditional household methods for preparingand processing indigenous foods (Gibson et al., 2000). Thisapproach has been reported (Gibson et al., 2000) to be the mostsustainable, economically feasible, equitable, and culturallyacceptable strategy.

Over 80% of the vitamin A intake in low income countries isderived from plant sources in the form of provitamin A carotenoidswhich are converted into retinol (vitamin A) in the body (Van denBerg et al., 2000). Commonly known rich sources of provitamin Acarotenoids include yellow and orange fruits, such as mangoes andpapayas, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, and dark green leafyvegetables (Chakravarty, 2000). Banana (Musa spp.) is one of themajor staples in African countries such as Burundi, Uganda andeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania. Commonbanana cultivars within East Africa, primarily of the East Africanhighland banana (EAHB) and plantain groups, have levels ofprovitamin A carotenoids ranging from 3.89 to 18.75 mg/g fw(Ekesa et al., 2013), but studies have revealed that a number oforange-fleshed cultivars indigenous to the Pacific region are

B. Ekesa et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 43 (2015) 1–62

significantly higher in provitamin A carotenoids, with levels up to61.10 mg b-carotene/g fw (Englberger et al., 2003). Studies on in vitro

bioaccessibility of provitamin A carotenoids of popular bananacultivars from eastern Africa showed that following processing, theamount of provitamin A carotenoids micellized and ready forabsorption was significantly higher in banana-derived dishes (16–27%) than that observed in popular roots and tubers (Ekesa et al., 2013).

Plantain, or cooking banana, has been reported as the secondmost important source of calories in Eastern Democratic Republicof Congo (DRC), after cassava (Davey et al., 2007; Ekesa et al., 2013).Average annual consumption of cooking banana in Uganda,Rwanda and Burundi is about 250–400 kg (550–880 lb) per person(about 3–11 bananas each day) (Englberger et al., 2003). With itsyear-round harvest, the crop can play an important role in bridgingthe ‘hunger gap’ between harvests of other major crops (UNCST,2007). The better deployment of high-provitamin A carotenoidsbanana cultivars could therefore contribute to increased vitamin Acontent of the diet and improved vitamin A status in vulnerablepopulations (Englberger et al., 2003).

This study analyzed the provitamin A carotenoids content of anumber of high-provitamin A carotenoid banana cultivars that arebeing field tested in Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic ofCongo, to assess their agronomic performance and adoptionpotential in these countries, as part of a dietary diversificationstrategy to fight vitamin A deficiency.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Plant material

In 2009, 11 Musa cultivars of different subgroups were selectedfor agronomic and adoption trials in the Democratic Republic ofCongo and Burundi. The cultivars included several cooking anddessert types from Hawaii, Ghana, the Philippines, Thailand andPapua New Guinea (Table 1). The cultivars were selected for fast-tracking and possible inclusion within East African farmingsystems. This was because screening experiments had shown thatthey had provitamin A carotenoid levels higher than the averagefor their subgroup (Caiubi Pereira, 2009). These cultivars wereordered from the Musa Germplasm collection at the InternationalTransit Center (ITC) in Belgium and sent to Phytolabu in Burundifor further multiplication up to the required number of plantletsfor trial establishment. A total of nine trials were established: threein North Kivu-DRC, three in South Kivu-DRC and 2 in Burundi. Thetrial sites were established in different agro-ecological zones withcontrasting soils (fertility) and rainfall. At each site, 15 plants pergenotype were planted over 3 replications. Field planting was donefrom February to April 2011 (HarvestPlus report 2011).

Table 1Information on banana cultivars selected for fast-tracking in eastern Africa.

Accession name ITC code Genome Subgroup

Senorita ITC1230 AA nd

Hung Tu ITC0601 AA nd

To’o ITC1004 AA nd

Sepi ITC0849 AA nd

Papat Wung ITC0904 AA nd

Laı ITC0403 AAA Red

Chibulangombe ITC0138 AAA EAHB

Apantu ITC0223 AAB Plantain

Bungaoisan ITC0033 AAB Plantain

Bira ITC0945 AAB Pacific Plant

Lahi ITC1171 AAB Pacific Plant

Pelipita ITC0472 ABB Pelipita

ITC: International Transit Center; nd: not defined; PNG: Papua New Guinea.

These cultivars are undergoing both agronomic and organolep-tic evaluation.

2.2. Sample collection and preparation

Although the evaluation trials were in three regions, thepurpose of this study was to establish the content of theprovitamin A carotenoids across different cultivars and whenthe fruit was unripe and ripe. Therefore due to ease in sampletransportation a batch of samples for nutrient analysis used in thisstudy were obtained from the Butembo field site in North Kivu,Democratic Republic of Congo and this included the cultivars thatwere able to thrive well at this site. These include all those listed inTable 1 except ‘Chibulangombe’ and ‘Senorita’ that did notestablish well. Mature ‘Lai’ and ‘Pelipita’ was also unavailable atthe time of sample collection. ‘Papat Wung’ produced seeds andwas removed from the trials. Eight cultivars in total were tested forprovitamin A carotenoids.

Three mature disease-free plants of each cultivar wereidentified by a qualified agronomist and marked. When the fruitsof the identified bunch for each plant and cultivar were mature(deep green, full and rounded), the bunch was harvested and 2ndand 3rd hand, each containing between 12 and 16 fingers, werepicked and labeled. The samples were packed in an aerated cartonand transported by road to Kampala, arriving within 48 h ofharvest. On arrival at Kampala, the fruit samples were allowed toripen naturally in a well aerated room. The ripening stages ofinterest in this study were stages 1 (unripe) and 5 (ripe). Theseindices are based on peel color: 1 = green; 2 = green with trace ofyellow; 3 = more green than yellow; 4 = more yellow than green;5 = only green tips remaining; 6 = all yellow; 7 = yellow fleckedwith brown (Stover and Simmonds, 1987). Three fingers fromdifferent plants of each cultivar were randomly detached from thebanana hands at ripening stage 1, cleaned, hand peeled, quartered,each of the 4 quarters forming a finger were pooled into onesample and put in labeled zip-lock bags with air removed manuallyand frozen at �20 8C to await lyophilization. The rest of the handwas left to ripen naturally in a well-aerated room. Sub-sampling ofeach cultivar for ripening stage 5 was done when the fruit peel wasall yellow with only green tips, and the procedures applied duringstage 1 were then followed.

Once all samples were collected, they were weighed andlyophilized at Kawanda Research Institute (Kampala, Uganda) for72 h, after which they were re-weighed, re-packaged in labeledZiploc bags and kept frozen at �20 8C until shipment. The sampleswere transported by air using a courier to the Laboratory of FruitBreeding and Biotechnology, Department of Bio systems at theCatholic University of Leuven, Belgium for provitamin A carote-noids analysis.

Clone set Type Country of origin

nd Dessert Philippines

nd Dessert PNG

nd Dessert PNG

nd Cooking PNG

nd Cooking PNG

nd Dessert Thailand

Nakabululu Cooking Uganda

False Horn Cooking Ghana

French Cooking Philippines

ain Iholena Cooking PNG

ain Popo’ulu Cooking Hawaii

nd Cooking Philippines

B. Ekesa et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 43 (2015) 1–6 3

2.3. Extraction and carotenoid analysis

All extractions were carried out in triplicate according toprocedures developed specifically for the analysis of banana tissues.One hundred milligram aliquots of powdered lyophilized fruit pulpwere homogenized for 30 s at maximum speed in a ‘Fast Prep’reciprocal shaker in 400 mL of ice-cooled extraction solvent. Theextraction solvents consisted of tetrahydrofuran:methanol(THF:MeOH), 1:1 (v/v), containing 0.25% butylated hydroxytoluene(BHT) and 2% insoluble polyvinylpolypyrolidine (PVPP) (Davey et al.,2006, 2009a). Following centrifugation (14,000 rpm for 20 min at4 8C), the supernatant was transferred to a fresh micro-centrifugetube and the pellet was re-extracted twice with 400 mL of THF:MeOH,1:1 (v/v), containing 0.25% (BHT) without PVPP. Supernatants werecollected and combined, and 8-apo b-carotenal at a final concentra-tion of 0.002 mg/ml added as an internal standard.

The combined supernatants were analyzed directly by rapidphase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) using aWaters Alliance, 2690 Separations System fitted with an auto-sampler, thermostated at 8 8C, a pulse dampener and a 996 UV–visphotodiode array detector (Waters, MA, USA). The entire systemwas controlled and the data were collected and integrated usingthe Millennium 4.0 software package. Extracts were resolved on a150 mm � 4.6 mm, YMC C30 3-mm particle size HPLC column(Achrom, Zulte, Belgium), using a 24-min linear gradient of 2–50%tert-butyl methyl ether (t-BME) in MeOH at 1.0 ml/min, followedby a 1 min linear gradient to 95% t-BME in MeOH, which wasmaintained for 3 min to elute remaining compounds. The columnwas then re-equilibrated for 5 min under starting conditions of 2%t-BME in MeOH, before next injection Peaks were quantified at450 nm using a freshly prepared standard curve in extractionsolvent and identified on the basis of their characteristicabsorption spectra. Retention times relative to known standardswere available (Ekesa et al., 2013). Results were obtained as nmolpVACs/gdw. Following the difference in fresh weight and freeze-dried weight, moisture content of each sample was established andthe fresh matter provitamin A cartenoid values determined [valueof dry matter/(100/100 � moisture %)].

2.4. Assessment of impact on vitamin A dietary reference intakes

To determine the relative vitamin A nutritional content ofsamples, total provitamin A carotenoid contents were first

Table 2Mean content of all-trans-a-carotene, all-trans-b-carotene and total provitamin A carote

1 and 5.

Variety Ripening stage t-AC t-BC

Hung Tu 1 679a 1600a

5 1849b 5653c

To’o 1 190a 369a

5 2055bc 5267c

Sepi 1 1019a 1157ab

5 4728e 5611c

Apantu 1 1540b 3034b

5 3287d 6387c

Bungaoisan 1 483a 602a

5 779a 857a

Bira 1 1412b 2762b

5 3284d 6339c

Lahi 1 695a 2350b

5 2807cd 6541c

LSD 1065.6 1468.9

Values are means of three individual samples per ripening stage per cultivar.

Means (derived through Fishers Protected LSD test) in the same column followed by t

pVACs: provitamin A carotenoids; t-AC: all-trans-a-carotene; t-BC: all-trans-b-caro

equivalents; BC/AC: all-trans-a-carotene to all-trans-b-carotene ratio; LSD; Least Signi

Due to the high presence of seeds in the fruit of Papat Wung, it was not considered a

converted to all-trans-b-carotene equivalents (t-BCEs) by addingall the specific carotenoids which included all-trans-b-carotene (t-BC), all-trans-a-carotene (t-AC) and their cis-isomers (c-AC, c-BC)using the formula t-BCE = 0.5 t-AC + t-BC + 0.53 c-BC, where c-BC isthe sum of 13-cis-b-carotene and 13-cis-a-carotene (Yeum andRussell, 2002). These values were then converted into retinolactivity equivalents (RAEs), assuming that 1/12th of the total all-trans-b-carotene equivalents ingested are taken up into the body(Yeum and Russell, 2002). The RAEs in mg/100 g fw were comparedto the vitamin A DRIs for children 1–5 years old 400 RAE mg/dayand for women at 700 RAE mg/day (FAO/WHO, 2002).

2.5. Statistical analysis

The provitamin A carotenids means for the cultivars at thedifferent ripening stages were compared using t-tests forcomparison (comparison in stage 1 and stage 5) while theseparation of means between cultivars within a particular stage(stage 1 and stage 5) was obtained using Fishers Protected leastsignificant difference (LSD) test generated from the Genstat 12.1Software. The level of significance was accepted at P < 0.05.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Total provitamin A carotenoids content

Overall, the mean total provitamin A carotenoids ranged from559 to 4680 mg/100 g fw) at ripening stage 1 and from 1680 to10,630 mg/100 g fw) at ripening stage 5 (Table 2). The variation intotal provitamin A carotenoids in the 9 cultivars that were testedconfirms findings by Englberger et al. (2003) that there is a widevariation in fruit provitamin A carotenoids and carotenoids contents,both within and across genomic groups. Apart from the main role innutrition, this indicates a strong genetic basis for establishingbreeding programs for provitamin A carotenoids content, dependingon fruit physicochemical properties and agronomic productioncharacteristics (yield, disease resistance, etc.) of the cultivar.

3.2. Changes in individual and total PVACs following ripening

All cultivars showed a statistically significant increase(P < 0.05) in the all-trans-b-carotene, all-trans-a-carotene andtotal provitamin A carotenoids from ripening stage 1 to stage 5

noids (pVACs) in mg/100 g fw across the different banana cultivars at ripening stages

Cis-BC Lutein Total-PVACs BCE

43.1ab 0a 2322ab 1962ab

258.2c 0a 7760c 6714c

0a 0a 559a 464a

247.9c 22.3ab 7765c 6529c

0a 0a 2167ab 1655ab

257.6c 0a 10067d 7958c

84.0b 0a 4680b 3860b

263.3c 128.4cd 10056d 8238c

7.0a 0a 1098a 841a

114.2b 100.9c 1675a 1267a

93.6b 51.0b 4339b 3556b

592.7d 114.9cd 10633d 8516c

64.1b 34.7b 3145b 2751b

656.7d 141.0d 10508d 8560c

62.59 32.98 2533.9 2032.1

he same letter are not significantly different (P > 0.05).

tene; cis-AC: cis-a-carotene; cis-AB: cis-b-carotene; BCE: all-trans-b-carotene

ficant Difference.

good cultivar for consumption and thus not analyzed after ripening.

B. Ekesa et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 43 (2015) 1–64

with the exception of the all-trans-a-carotene of ‘Lahi’ and‘Bungaoisan’ (Table 2). These results are similar to results byNgoh Newilah et al. (2007) and Ekesa et al. (2013) who observed asignificant increase in provitamin A carotenoids from ripeningstages 1 to 5 of different banana cultivars in Cameroon and easternAfrica. In addition, a study by Lokesh et al. (2014) on dessertvarieties from India also showed that in some of the dessertcultivar (red banana) there was no change in carotenoid levelsfollowing ripening while in another cultivar (Nanjanagudu

rasabale) an increase was observed but it was not statisticallysignificant. Studies carotenoid changes in apricots and mangoesfollowing ripening showed that b-carotene levels increasedsignificantly during ripening (Rodriguez-Amaya, 1997). Theincrease in carotenoid content observed in this study could beexplained by the fact that maturation or ripening of fruits andvegetables is usually accompanied by enhanced carotenogenesis(Ngoh Newilah et al., 2007) and provided the fruit or vegetableremains intact; this continues to occur even after harvest(Rodriguez-Amaya, 1997).

3.3. Individual provitamin A carotenoids contents and proportions

The vitamin A nutritional value of banana and plantain fruitsdepends not only on the concentration of provitamin A carotenoidsbut also on the relative proportion of the individual provitamin Acarotenoids present. This is because individual provitamin Acarotenoids compounds have different vitamin A activities, due todifferences in their chemical structures. The relative vitamin Aactivity of 13-cis-b-carotene has been estimated as 53% of all-trans-b-carotene (Schieber and Carle, 2005), while trans alpha carotene hasonly one half of the biological activity of all-trans-b-carotene (Fraserand Bramley, 2004; Trumbo et al., 2003). Lutein has no vitamin Aactivity. From a nutritional viewpoint, fruit/foods with higher all-trans-b-carotene contents are preferred as all-trans-b-carotene is theprovitamin A carotenoids with the highest vitamin A nutrition value.

The provitamin A carotenoids identified in the cultivars in thestudy were all-trans-b-carotene (t-BC), all-trans-a-carotene, andtrace amounts of cis-a-carotenoids, cis-b-carotene and lutein(Tables 3 and 4). These were the same provitamin A carotenoidsobserved in previous studies on banana (Ekesa et al., 2013; Daveyet al., 2009a; Englberger et al., 2003; Ngoh Newilah et al., 2007).

At ripening stage 1, ‘Papat Wung’ had the highest t-BCproportion of 96.9%. However due to the high presence of seedsin the fruit (Fig. 1), it was not considered a good cultivar forconsumption and thus not analyzed further.

The proportion of all-trans-b-carotene in relation to the otherprovitamin A carotenoids for all the plantains after ripening rangedfrom 49.4% to 63.5% (Fig. 1). While ‘Hung Tu’ showed significant

Table 3P-values from the comparison of trial cultivars at ripening stage 5 and locally availabl

Trial cultivars Genome group Total pVAC of

trial cultivars

Loca

Lahi AAB-Pacific plantain 10508.6 Vula

Lahi AAB-Pacific plantain 10508.5 Nshi

Apantu AAB-Plantain 10063.1 Mus

Apantu AAB-Plantain 10063.1 Mus

Bira AAB-Pacific plantain 10632.0 Mus

Bira AAB-Pacific plantain 10632.0 Mus

Bungaoisan AAB-Plantain 1674.5 Mus

Bungaoisan AAB-Plantain 1674.5 Mus

To’o AA-Dessert 7766.0 Suka

Sepi AA-Cooking 7766.0 Suka

Hung’tu AA-Dessert 7760.7 Suka

pVACs: provitamin A carotenoids.# P-Values are of the comparison between the total pVAC means of cultivars on trial ag

through manual t-test. Level of significance is at 5%.

Values for local cooking and plantain cultivars are from Ekesa et al. (2013). Value for local d

increases in its all-trans-b-carotene proportions with ripening,‘Lahi’, ‘Bira’ and ‘Bungaoisan’ showed a significant decrease(P < 0.05). Among the dessert banana cultivars, ‘To’o’ and ‘HungTu’ had t-BC >65%, while ‘Sepi’ had the lowest all-trans-b-caroteneproportion (50%) after ripening (Fig. 1). Both ‘To’o’ and ‘Hung Tu’had statistically significant changes with a decrease in all-trans-a-carotene and an increase in cis proportions with ripening(P < 0.05). Fig. 1 also shows that the proportion of cis carotenoidsincrease as the fruit progressed from unripe to ripe; this could bedue to enzymatic or non-enzymatic isomerization of trans-carotenes to cis-isomers.

The presence of a greater proportion of all-trans-a-carotenecompared to all-trans-a-carotene in banana cultivars was alsorecorded by Ekesa et al. (2013) when bananas popular in easternAfrica were studied. Studies on other crops such as maize andwheat have reported that the provitamin A carotenoids onlyrepresent between 10% and 20% of the total carotenoid content(Davey et al., 2009b).

3.4. Total provitamin A carotenoids in new as compared to local

cultivars

All cultivars on trial showed significantly higher provitamin Acarotenoids levels at ripening stage 5 than popular local cultivarsof the same genomic group and type (Table 3). Ekesa et al. (2013)reported provitamin A carotenoid values for two local plantains(‘Musilongo’ and ‘Musheba’) of 1272.0 and 955.3 mg/100 g fw,respectively. The two plantains in the trial (‘Apantu’ and‘Bungaoisan’) as well as the two Pacific plantains (‘Bira’ and ‘Lahi’)had significantly higher provitamin A carotenoids content thanthese local plantains. Ekesa et al. (2013) also reported provitamin Acarotenoids values for two local East African highland cookingbananas (‘Vulambya’ and ‘Nshikazi’) of 944.6 and 418.6 mg/100 gfw, respectively, which was significantly lower than the valuesrecorded for the cooking type in this trial (‘Sepi’). Fungo and Pillay(2011) reported values of 48.3 mg/100 g fw for the local dessertcultivar ‘Sukali Ndizi’ (syn. ‘Kamaramasenge’), which was signifi-cantly lower than the dessert varieties on trial.

The provitamin A carotenoids values obtained for the cultivarsbeing tested in the East African context; 1674.5–10,632.0 mg/100 gfw (16.8–106.3 mg/g fw) are significantly higher than those ofbetween 232 and 2000 mg/100 g fw observed in 9 banana cultivarsfrom Cameroon (Ngoh Newilah et al., 2007). On the other hand, thevalues reported for orange fleshed sweet potato of 132–194 mg/gfw (13,200–19,400 mg/100 g fw) (Van Jaarsveld et al., 2006), aregreater than those of the banana cultivars under study. Despitethat, it is important to note that studies have shown that the in vitro

bioaccessibility of t-BC in banana (16% for plantains and 27% for

e cultivars (measures in pVACs mg/100 g fresh weight).

l cultivars Genome group Total pVAC of

local cultivars

P-Value#

mbya AAA-EA 944.6 0.002

kazi AAA-EA 418.63 0.002

ilongo AAB-Plantain 1272.0 0.002

heba AAB-Plantain 955.3 0.002

ilongo AAB-Plantain 1272.0 0.002

heba AAB-Plantain 955.3 0.002

ilongo AAB-Plantain 1272.0 0.016

heba AAB-Plantain 1955.3 0.014

li Ndizi AB Dessert 48.3 0.002

li Ndizi AB Dessert 48.3 0.002

li Ndizi AB Dessert 48.3 0.002

ainst those for the local cultivars within their respective categories means compared

essert cultivar is from Fungo and Pillay (2011) and values concerted into mg/100 g fw.

Table 4Retinol Activity Equivalent and the percentage contribution of the pVACs in the cultivars at different ripening stages toward the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for children

(1–5 years) and women.

Cultivar Ripening stage BCE mg/100 g fw RAE mg/100 g fw % DRI child (<5 yrs)a % DRI womana

Av 100 g Av 250 g Av 100 g Av 500 g

Hung’tu Stage 1 1962.4 164 40.9 102.2 23.4 116.8

Stage 5 6714.1 560 139.9 349.7 79.9 399.7

To’o Stage 1 464.2 39 9.7 24.2 5.5 27.6

Stage 5 6529.2 544 136.0 340.1 77.7 388.6

Sepi Stage 1 1654.8 138 34.5 86.2 19.7 98.5

Stage 5 7957.7 663 165.8 414.5 94.7 473.7

Papat wung Stage 1 72.5 6 1.5 3.8 0.9 4.3

Apantu Stage 1 3860.2 322 80.4 201.1 46.0 229.8

Stage 5 8238.0 687 171.6 429.1 98.1 490.4

Bungaoisan Stage 1 841.2 70 17.5 43.8 10.0 50.1

Stage 5 1266.9 106 26.4 66.0.98 15.1 75.4

Bira Stage 1 3555.6 296 74.1 185.2 42.3 211.7

Stage 5 8516.0 710 177.4 443.5 101.4 506.9

Lahi Stage 1 2750.5 229 57.3 143.3 32.7 163.7

Stage 5 8559.7 713 178.3 445.8 101.9 509.5

Values are means of three individual samples per ripening stage per cultivar.

RAE: retinol activity equivalent; BCE: all-trans-b-carotene equivalents.a DRI: daily recommended intakes for children 1–5 years old is 400 RAE mg/day and for women is 700 RAE mg/day (National Research Council, 2001).

B. Ekesa et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 43 (2015) 1–6 5

East African highland bananas) (Ekesa et al., 2012), is significantlyhigher compared to that of orange-fleshed sweet potato which hasbeen reported to be between 0.6% and 3% (Failla et al., 2009).

3.5. Contribution to vitamin A requirements

The retinol activity equivalent (RAE) values of the cultivars atripening stage 5 ranged from 106 to 713 mg/100 g fw (Table 4)while the DRIs of vitamin A for children aged 1–5 years and womenof reproductive age is 400 mg RAE and 700 mg RAE, respectively(FAO/WHO, 2002).

The results show that 100 g of ripe ‘Lahi’, ‘Apantu’, ‘Bira’, ‘To’o’,‘Sepi’ and ‘Hung Tu’ fruit contains enough vitamin A to meet >100%of the DRIs (DRI) of a child below five years. It has been reportedthat consumption of 250 g fw (approximately 2 fingers) of cookedbanana fruit by a child below five years and 500 g (approximately 3fingers) by a woman of reproductive age in Banana growing andconsuming regions of Africa is considered to be within normalconsumption levels (Rodriguez-Amaya, 1997). Therefore, undernormal consumption levels, all the tested cultivars would exceedthe DRI for vitamin A for children below five years except‘Bungaoisan’ that would meet 68.4% of the DRIs, respectively. Dailyconsumption of 100 g of the cultivars under study by women will

29 2434 26

46 46

3

33

69 7366

68

54 50

97

65

2 3 0 6 0 4 0 2

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Stage 1

Stage 5

Stage 1

Stage 5

Stage 1

Stage 5

Stage 1

Stage 1

S

Hung'tu To'o Sepi P.Wung Apan

% P

ropo

r�on

of p

VACs

Banana cul�var and r

Fig. 1. Proportion of the individual provitamin A carotenoids (PVACs) across

be able to meet 15.1–101.9% of the 700 mg RAE DRI, while dailyconsumption of 500 g (approximately 4 fingers) would meet 75.4–509.5% of the DRIs. All the cultivars with the exception of‘Bungaoisan’ are able to exceed 100% of the women’s DRIs if 500 gof fruit is consumed.

Local cooking and plantain cultivars like ‘Vulambya’, ‘Nshikazi’,‘Musheba’ and ‘Musilongo’ that are commonly consumed in theregion are able to meet 6.4–21.9% of the DRIs for children and 3.6–12.5% of the DRIs for women if 100 g of fruit at ripening stage 5 areconsumed (Ekesa et al., 2013). This is much lower than thecontribution of the cultivars under study where six out of the ninecultivars meet >100% of the DRIs for children and four out of thenine cultivars meet >90% of the DRIs for women when 100 g offruit at ripening stage 5 are consumed. Englberger et al. (2003) andFungo and Pillay (2011) also report different banana cultivars thathave carotenoid contents that can meet from half to the fullvitamin A requirements of young children and adult women.

The dessert cultivars which are eaten raw are also able toexceed 100% of the DRIs for children and meet 77–93% of the DRIsfor women if 100 g of fruit at ripening stage 5 are consumed. Sincethe cooking and plantain cultivars are not consumed raw, theirrespective retinol activity equivalent and its contribution to theDRIs can be expected to change following processing (Ruel, 2001).

3344 45

32 3122 26

6355 49

64 60 75 63

4 1 5 4 10 3 11

tage 5

Stage 1

Stage 5

Stage 1

Stage 5

Stage 1

Stage 5

tu Bungaoisan Bira Lahi

ipening stage

cis pVACs

t-BC

t-AC

the different banana cultivars when unripe (stage 1) and ripe (stage 5).

B. Ekesa et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 43 (2015) 1–66

Determination of the content, bioaccessibility and retention of theprovitamin A carotenoids in these banana cultivars after proces-sing using the cooking methods commonly used in the specificregions is therefore important.

4. Conclusions

The findings show that the banana cultivars currentlyundergoing field testing for agronomic, organoleptic and nutri-tional potential in Burundi and Eastern Democratic Republic ofCongo have significantly higher levels of provitamin A carotenoidsthan the local cultivars. During post-harvest maturation (fromunripe to ripe), there was a significant increase in the content ofprovitamin A carotenoids in all the banana cultivars on trial.Assuming similar banana bioaccessibility levels reported by Ekesaet al. (2013), under normal banana consumption levels, adoptionand appropriate use of the studied cultivars within existing dietswill substantially contribute to meeting the vitamin A needs ofvulnerable population groups, especially women and children.

5. Recommendations

Further tests should be carried out to establish the stability ofprovitamin A carotenoids after cooking as a single food item or as ameal, processing into flour, or other post-harvest treatments. Inaddition, it would be even better to establish the amount ofprovitamin A carotenoids micellized (in vitro bioaccessibility)following consumption of the dishes derived from the trialcultivars.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank HarvestPlus Challenge programthrough Bioversity International for funding this study. They arealso grateful to the Consultative Group on International Agricul-tural Research (CGIAR) programs on Roots, Tubers and Banana(RTB) and Agriculture for nutrition and Health (A4NH) foradditional funding. Mr. Charles Sivirihauma Lwanga, field scientistin North Kivu, is acknowledged for ensuring that fruit sampleswere harvested and delivered appropriately. The InternationalPotato Center (CIP) personnel at Namulonge laboratory (Uganda)are to be thanked for their help during sample preparation andprocessing, as well as the Laboratory of Fruit Breeding andBiotechnology, Katholieke Universite Leuven (Belgium) for carry-ing out the nutrient analysis. Finally, the authors are grateful to Mr.Vincent Johnson, of Bioversity International, Montpellier, Francefor his support in editing this paper.

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