Table 1.

Health benefits of bananas

Antioxidant activity
Banana extracts are capable to scavenge both reactive oxygen species (H2O2) and oxygen & nitrogen free radicals (O2-; NO°) Antioxidant activity due to carotenoids, flavonoids, polyphenolics, dopamine, etc. Mice or rat feeding banana extracts had decreased markers of lipid peroxidation and increased values of CAT, GSH, and SOD	Baldi (2012) Kandasamy and Aradhya (2014) Darsini et al. (2012) Kulma and Szopa (2007) Aquino et al. (2018) Vijayakumar et al. (2008)
Source of micronutrients
Banana pulp: starch, fiber, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin C, vitamin A, iron, calcium, and potassium. It has also small amounts of copper, manganese, zinc and vitamin D Banana peel: starch, proteins, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium, carotenoids, and polyphenolics	Thanaraj and Terry (2011) López and Montano (2014)
Anti-thrombotic activity
Crude banana inhibits platelet aggregation	Kandasamy et al. (2016)
Anti-diabetic activity
Banana induced hypoglycemic effects in humans	Cressey et al., 2014
Anti-atherosclerosis activity
Banana extracts and compounds effectively scavenge ROS and RNS Banana compounds protect endothelial against toxic and ROS/RNS damage Banana compounds decrease inflammation, including downregulation of endothelial cell adhesion molecules Banana compounds induces vasodilation and decreases blood pressure Banana extracts and compounds decrease blood cholesterol, triglycerides and improve HDL cholesterol	Kandasamy and Aradhya (2014) Ahmad et al. (2019) Izar et al. (2018) Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi (2005)