Scientists and agricultural extension researchers have said root, tuber and plantain farmers can make greater returns on their investments, prevent post-harvest losses and contribute to all-year-round food availability and security with value addition using simple processing technologies.
A Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) report says on the average, plantain post-harvest losses and transformed (value added) quantities in the world are about 11.5 percent and 11 percent, respectively, while the remaining percentage is consumed as staple food without value addition.
Based on the categorisation of utilisation by FAO, ripe or unripe plantain pulps are cooked in water or vapour and eaten in developing countries mostly. Also, unripe cooked plantain pounded in a mortar is made into pastry eaten with sauce of various types, and this constitutes a staple for millions of Africans.
Again, ripe or unripe plantain pulps are roasted on charcoal fire, eaten with groundnuts, sauce or stew. It constitutes a great percentage of plantain consumption. Equally, unripe plantain pulps are cooked with water, meat or fish, palm oil, salt and various spices.
In semi-industrialised usage, slices of unripe or ripe plantain pulps are fried in palm oil or other vegetable oils, packaged in sachets and eaten as snacks. Elastic pastry (amala) is also prepared from plantain flour and boiling water. And the powder is made by sun-drying or flash-drying and grinding the plantain pulps, as explained by FAO.
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