BANANA CULTURE IN HAWAII 
11 
BANANA FLOUR 
Both the banana and the plantain form a far more important 
article of food in some other countries than they do in Hawaii or in 
any of the United States. Fawcett (11. p. 119) states that they take 
the place of wheat, rye. barley, and potatoes for an immense portion 
of the human race. Flour is the most concentrated form to which 
the banana can be reduced, and is manufactured from fully grown 
green specimens which have not begun to ripen. In the West Indies 
the fruit is cut from the bunches and placed in water at about 176° 
F. for four or five minutes so that the green skin may the more easily 
be removed. The pulp is then split in halves with a wooden, bone, 
or silver blade. After the banana has been thus prepared, drying, 
either by sun or artificial heat, takes place rapidly. AVhen the mois- 
ture has been reduced to 15 per cent or less, the dried fruit is ground 
and run through sieves having 120 meshes to the inch. The freshly 
prepared product has an odor characteristic of the fresh article, and 
an agreeable and somewhat sweet taste. It may be stored in boxes 
or barrels lined with paper. 
Some difficulty has been encountered in making bread with banana 
flour alone, but when mixed with wheat flour or with oatmeal it 
proves satisfactory. Good bread has been made from banana flour 
paste which had been subjected to the action of steam under pressure. 
Table 4 compares the nutritive value of banana flour and other foods. 
Table 4. — Comparative nutritive value of banana and other foods 1 
Kind of food 
Moisture 
Protefn 
Fat 
Carbo- 
hydrates 
Ash 
Food 
value per 
pound 
Per cent 
75.3 
9.7 
Per cent 
1.3 
3.1 
11.4 
9.2 
2.2 
Per cent 
0.6 
.5 
1.0 
1.9 
.1 
Per cent 
22.0 
84.1 
75.1 
75.4 
18.4 
Per cent 
0.8 
2.6 
.5 
1.0 
1.0 
Calories 
460 
1,610 
Wheat flour _ . ... _ . 
12.0 
12.5 
78.3 
1,650 
1,655 
Potato (white).. . . 
385 
i Hawaii Exp. Sta. Ext. Bui. 6 (1917), p. 7. 
DRIED BANANAS 
Bananas may be preserved in a concentrated form known as banana 
"figs," which are simply the dried ripe fruit. Drying as a means 
of preserving the banana is commonly practiced in theWest Indies and 
many other countries. Trials of different methods of processing by 
the station indicate that drying is applicable to Hawaiian-grown 
varieties, and fig making from the banana seems possible. The 
following is a simple method of preserving the banana : 
The firm, ripe fruit, peeled and split lengthwise in halves or 
fourths, is placed on trays and dried, either in the sun or with arti- 
ficial heat. Various kinds of driers, including evaporators and 
vacuum driers, are used. The drying process is complete when the 
dried product resembles dried figs, prunes, or dates. In drying, the 
fruit becomes covered wtih a white, sugary powder formed from its 
own juice. In the ripe fruit the starch turns to sugar, which in the 
drying process acts as a preservative and enables the fruit to keep 
