Abstract
Banana is the most important tropical fruit of the world. Bananas and plantains are the fourth most important food crop in the world after rice, wheat, and maize. There are as many as 200–300 cultivars existing in countries that grow them. However, only a few of them are cultivated on large scale. Bananas are staple food in some of the African countries. Therefore, it is essential to know the nutritional composition and other phytochemicals of different banana cultivars. There are wide variations reported in different banana cultivars for carbohydrates, proteins, phenols, β-carotene, minerals (Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe, Zn, B, Cu, and Mn), and vitamin C. Breeding has been done for evolving β-carotene–rich cultivars such as Fe'I group and FHIA hybrids. Volatile composition and variation between cultivars have also been studied extensively. This chapter reviews the information on botanical aspects, world cultivars, and nutritional and biochemical composition, along with volatiles of various banana cultivars from different parts of the world.
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