The Effect of Storage on the Nutrient Composition of Some Nigerian Foodstuffs: Banana and Plantain

Changes in the nutrient composition during storage of plantain, banana, yam and cocoyam using different storage methods have been investigated. It has been shown that there was an increase in moisture content of banana and plantain during storage in open air, (28.2 ± 0.10 to 30.2 ± 0.03% for banana and 31.6 ± 0.18 to 34.1 ± 02% for plantain) after 9 days of storage. These were followed by a slight decrease in the deep refrigerator storage and then an over all increase in the deep freezer storage. .Small changes were observed in crude protein and ether extracts during open air storage of banana and plantain as well as yam and cocoyam. A general trend of lowest nutrient values during deep freezer storage has been observed. It thus seems that storage of banana, plantain is better in a refrigerator than open air probably due to the minimized nutrient loss caused by metabolic activities such as respiration and sprouting. It should however be noted that for these food items, open air storage was in fact better than deep-freezer storage provided consumption is hastened since the deep freezer subjected the food stuffs to chilling injury and nutrient loss. @JASEM