Bioactive compounds in banana

To promote healthy eating lifestyle, the USDA recommends filling up half the plate with fruits and vegetables. It is good to have one to two bananas daily are considered a moderate intake for most healthy people. Ideally, banana should be taken in the morning or the evening and must avoid eating them at night.

Banana is the most affordable, widely available crop, and more than 1000 banana varieties, which differ in their color, taste, and chemical composition, are produced and consumed.

Banana flesh has been reported to possess promising bioactive antioxidant compounds, which contribute to defense mechanisms against free radicals, thereby mediating oxidative damage in cells.

Banana contains several bioactive compounds, such as phenolics, carotenoids, biogenic amines and phytosterols, which are highly essential to a healthy diet.

Antioxidants serve to keep down the levels of free radicals, permitting them to perform useful biological functions without damaging cells and preventing diseases.

Among the carotenoids present in banana fruit, α-carotene, β-carotene, and β-cryptoxanthin have provitamin A activity, but others like lycopene and lutein have a strong antioxidant capacity.

Lycopene is known to provide protection against prostate cancer among men, and lutein offers human health benefits to serve as an inhibitor of age-related macular degeneration.
Bioactive compounds in banana