Vitamin C Content in Indian Dessert Bananas and their Antioxidant Potential

ackground: Although India is a place of origin of several banana varieties that are locally popular for their exotic taste and health benefits, some of these varieties have never been subjected to comprehensive nutritional analysis. Fresh fruits and vegetables are the sources of daily requirement of vitamin C and 75% of Indian populations often suffer from this deficiency. Method: Vitamin C (AA) content in fruit pulp of three local varieties of banana at different ripening stages was analyzed by standard AOAC dye titration method. The AOX potential of fresh pulp from different ripening stages was evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging assay by spectrophotometry. Results: The highest content of AA was observed in climacteric (edible ripe) stages in varieties NRB (45mg/100g FW) and EB (36 mg/100g FW), both are genotypically composed of AAB genome whereas varieties Cavendish, RB and Nendran of genotype AAA showed much lower AA content of respectively 10, 0.3 and 0.2 mg/100gm FW. The AOX potential of fresh pulp was 94% per gram in the edible ripe stage of NRB whereas in EB the post ripe stages exhibited 77.5% and 73%. RB and Nendran showed AOX activity of 30% and 60% per g FW. Conclusion: This study has for the first time identified banana varieties rich in vitamin C and since bananas are consumed fresh, liked by many and produced year-round, the present information is helpful in choosing such varieties for cultivation to address vitamin C deficiency prevailing in many tropical countries.