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Plantain (Musa paradisiaca), a staple food source for many people especially in the tropics, contains the neurotransmitter, serotonin which has analgesic and antidepressant effects. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of chronic consumption of plantain diet on pain perception and social behavior in mice.

In the first set of experiments, three groups of mice were either fed rodent chow (control) or 50 or 100 per cent plantain diet, while in a second set of experiments, another three groups of mice were fed either rodent chow (control) or 100 per cent plantain or plantain + ritanserin (serotonin antagonist) for 30 days. Response to pain stimuli was studied by hot plate and formalin tests. Also, the ability of the mice to fluff up suitable beds to build nestle from nesting material was used as an index for social behavior. Serotonin concentration in mice brain was measured using high performance liquid chromatography.

The results showed that plantain diet-fed mice consumed less food but gained more body weight than control mice. Pain perception was significantly reduced in the plantain diet-fed mice compared to the control. Social behavior was enhanced in the plantain diet-fed mice when compared to control (p < 0.05). There was significant increase in serotonin concentration in the brains of 100 per cent diet-fed mice. Administration of serotonin blocker, ritanserin reversed the effects observed in pain and social behavior tests.

Chronic consumption of plantain diet increases serotonin concentration in the brain, suppresses spontaneous perception of pain and improves social behavior in mice. These actions may involve serotonergic pathway.

In the Indian system of medicine – Ayurveda, Musa paradisiaca has been mentioned as a remedy for various diseases and ailments. Based on the folkloric use, the purpose of this paper is to verify and compare the hypoglycemic potential of unripe, ripe and overripe fruit extract of Musa paradisiaca.

Hypoglycemic activity of fruit extracts has been evaluated using various in vitro methods, namely, determination of glucose adsorption capacity, glucose uptake in yeast cells, amylolysis kinetics and glucose diffusion.

The extracts of unripe, ripe and overripe fruits of Musa paradisiaca adsorbed glucose, and the adsorption of glucose increased remarkably with an increase in glucose concentration. In the amylolysis kinetic experimental model, the rate of glucose diffusion was found to increase with time, and all the extracts of unripe, ripe and overripe fruits of Musa paradisiaca demonstrated significant inhibitory effects on the movement of glucose into external solution across the dialysis membrane as compared to the control. The extracts under study also promoted glucose uptake by the yeast cells in all the five glucose concentrations used in the study.

Here, the authors have verified and compared the hypoglycemic potential of Musa paradisiaca, its unripe fruit extract was found to show a better activity than ripe and overripe fruit extracts.

Banana, being an all season readily available fruit, is widely consumed due to its ready availability and low cost. It acts as a complete food for even low socio-economic classes of society, owing to its rich nutritional values. Even in a processed and unprocessed manner, it is an important constituent of diet. The research suggests that instead of consuming ripe and overripe fruit, the unripe fruit will help in management of diabetes.

This paper aims to investigate the stability of passive oxide film formed on the surface of 316L stainless steel in 3.5 Wt.% NaCl in the presence of two environmentally non-toxic inhibitors, i.e. leaf extracts of Musa spp. (MS) and Jatropha curcas (JC).

Current transients and potentiodynamic polarization curves were used to explain the stability of the passive film on Current transients and potentiodynamic polarization curves were used to explain the stability of the passive film on 316L stainless steel at both ambient temperature (25 °C) and 70 °C. For the potentiostatic tests, the coupons underwent cathodic stripping to remove the native oxide on their surfaces at −850 mV for 600 s, and a potential of 50 mV was imposed to observe the repassivation for 200 s. For the potentiodynamic tests, the pitting potential measured at 100 μA/cm2, corrosion potential and cathodic current density were obtained for analysis.

The current transients perfectly fitted into the exponential decay curve; i = i_s + i_peak exp(−t/τ), where the decay constant, τ measures the repassivating speed and extent to which the newly formed film heals and stabilizes. The current transients showed that MS and JC help in the repassivating process, especially at 300 ppm and 200 ppm, respectively, both at the lower temperature. The potentiodynamic curves mostly correlated with the current transients except for the hybrid inhibitor. The inhibitors increased the pitting potentials at concentrations that are correlated to their scanning electron micrograph images.

Because they are cheap and environmentally friendly, plant extracts that are proven corrosion inhibitors could be used to aid the formation of passive film on passive alloys in not-so-aggressive environments.

Both MS and JC improve the film stability mostly at intermediate concentrations of 200 and 300 ppm, respectively, at ambient temperature and 70° C.

Using leaf extracts of plants as green inhibitors is considered an environmentally friendly engineering solution.

The leaf extracts are a convenient resource of green inhibitors because their plants are readily available or could be easily naturalized, the processing technique to obtain the extracts is very cheap and the inhibitors are environmentally friendly. In addition, cathodic stripping exposes a relatively larger surface area than that obtained using the most common forms of depassivation; hence, the efficiency of the inhibitor in aiding the formation of the new oxide film to cover the bare surface would be better measured. There is very lean research data on the combined use of green inhibitors and cathodic stripping to study repassivating kinetics of passive alloys.

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of crude palm oil (PO), canola oil (CO) and their blends on characteristics of fried plantain crisps at two different stages of ripening.

Plantain (Musa paradisiaca L.) samples were peeled, sliced into 3 mm slices, blanched at 70 °C for 3 min and dried. The slices were deep fried at 180 °C for different times.

There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the moisture loss rate and the crispiness of the crisps produced using PO and CO. Significant differences (p < 0.05) existed in the fat uptake and color properties of the crisps fried in the two oils. PO fried crisps absorbed 15 percent less oil in the unripe crisps samples and 21 percent less oil in the fully ripened crisps than CO. The browning index showed that the PO crisps had greater color changes than the crisps fried using CO. The difference between the crisps from 50:50 blends of PO: CO and CO was not statistically significant, while 70:30 blends improved the qualities of the crisps better than CO alone. Analysis of kinetics data showed that moisture loss, oil uptake and browning index followed a first-order kinetics model.

Understanding the interactions between ripening and processing methods is enhanced and use of crude PO for industrial deep-fat frying is encouraged.

Just prior to the recent millennial transition, The Observer polled a cross‐section of British celebrities about their perceptions of paradise. Most of these were suitably vague – perpetual joy, renewed relationships, blissful state of mind etc. – but the anarchic comedian Mark Thomas archly described Heaven as “smelling of bananas”. Off‐hand possibly, flippant undoubtedly, yet Thomas’s remark is strikingly apt, since bananas are the original “forbidden fruit” of the Garden of Eden. Apples are mere interlopers, latter‐day arrivistes that have prospered thanks to the spin‐doctoring tactics of the wily Serpent. This paper, therefore, aims to set the record straight by telling a tall banana tale and explaining how bananamarketing is the future of our field.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of banana peel flour as fat replacer on rheological, physico-chemical, textural, mineral content and sensory properties of chicken patties.

Ultra low fat chicken patties were prepared with incorporation of banana peel flour at 0% (C), 1% (BP1), 2% (BP2) and 3% (BP3) levels separately to replace 50% externally added vegetable fat in formulation and evaluated for various quality characteristics and sensory attributes.

Highest G' and G''? modulus were observed in banana peel powder incorporated emulsion. No cross-point was observed at all ranges of frequency in meat emulsions prepared with banana peel. Among physico-chemical properties, control had significantly (p < 0.05) higher emulsion pH, emulsion stability, product pH, water activity values, fat and cholesterol content; however, cooking yield, moisture and ash content, fat retention and moisture retention values increased significantly (p < 0.05) in treatment patties. Mineral, textural and colour parameters had a significant (p < 0.05) effect except on manganese content and a* values. Various sensory scores decreased significantly (p < 0.05) with increased level of banana peel flour.

Sensory scores of 3% banana peel powder incorporated patties were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than other treatments. There was no significant difference between 1 and 2% banana peel incorporated chicken patties. Therefore, an ultra low fat chicken patties incorporated with 2.0% banana peel flour to replace 50% vegetable fat were selected as the best treatment.

Present global trend and life style are currently driving ready-to-eat healthy meat products and factors include extended working hours, increasing number of single-person households and perception of food as reward. Fat is an important component of meat products and imparts tenderness, improving flavor and mouth feel to processed meat products, like chicken patties. However intake of excess energy in form of saturated and unsaturated fat may lead to various life style diseases in consumers. Hence development of ultra low fat chicken patties with incorporation of fruit waste without adverse effect on sensory properties may be a significant challenge.

Flours obtained from pulps and peels of unripe banana were evaluated regarding their chemical composition and glycemic responses in rats. Moreover, this study aims to propose a new assay to measure glycemic responses using animals.

Proximal composition, total dietary fiber and its insoluble and soluble fractions, mineral content and tannins were evaluated. Glycemic responses were measured using albino Wistar rats (seven animals/group).

Flours from pulp and peel of unripe banana presented high content of carbohydrates and minerals. Moreover, flour from peel was rich in insoluble fiber, whereas flour from pulp had adequate proportion of insoluble and soluble fractions. Consumption of banana flours from peel and pulp did not affect fasting blood glucose of normoglycemic rats. Flour from pulp, when consumed in concentrations of 10 and 15 per cent of the diet, significantly stimulated lower glycemic responses in the animals.

Results presented in this study disclose unripe banana flour as an interesting food source, which may be indicated for preventing some types of diseases, such as diabetes, obesity and dyslipidemia. Moreover, the glycemic index assay using animals promoted accurate answers, as the diets were standardized, unlike studies with humans, which do not control variations related to omission and distortion of information regarding food intake.

In the livestock industry in Nigeria, maize is a major source of energy and it is expensive because of competition between man and animal. Dry plantain peel of minimal cost was used to replace the maize fraction of the diet of rabbit in order to reduce cost. The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance characteristics of rabbit fed plantain peel.

The feeding trial had five treatments, T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅ in which the maize fraction in the diet was replaced at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent, respectively. Completely randomized designs were used and each treatment was replicated thrice with three rabbits per replicate. The parameters taken were feed intake and weight gain on a daily and weekly basis. Feed conversion ratio, total feed cost and cost per weight gain were calculated.

The results show that there was no significant difference in the weight gain between the control diet (T₁) and T₃ (p < 0.05). The feed conversion ratio was relatively similar in T₁ and T₄. The cost per weight gain reduced from N53.57 in the control diet to N33.39 in T₃ (75 per cent replacement).

In the livestock industry, maize is expensive because it serves as food for both man and animal. The results indicate that the feed cost of rabbit could be reduced by replacing the maize fraction of the diet with 75 per cent dry plantain peel.

Surface pretreatment of iron and its alloys to remove stains and inorganic contaminants on the metal surface undergoes dissolution by virtue of the strong acidic media thereby increasing its susceptibility to corrosion. The purpose of this study is to explore the corrosion mitigation prospects of green corrosion inhibitors on mild steel surface.

Corrosion inhibition performance of Garcinia gummi-gutta leaf extract (GGLE) was explored against mild steel in 1 M HCl solution using the weight-loss method, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) techniques. Surface characterization was carried out to study the mechanism of inhibitor action.

The concentration of GGLE varied from 100 to 6,000 ppm and the result indicates that corrosion inhibition efficiency was amplified by raising the inhibitor concentration. The maximum inhibition efficiency was 82.2% at 6,000 ppm concentration. EIS results show the development of a protective layer of inhibitor molecule over the metal surface and PDP demonstrates that the inhibitor operates as a mixed-type inhibitor. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were executed to assess the surface morphology and roughness, respectively.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, so far, no studies have been reported on the corrosion inhibition performance of GGLE which is rich in many bioactive components especially hydroxyl citric acid. This work encompasses the corrosion inhibition capability of GGLE against mild steel in an acidic medium.