Umar Lule Ssonko, Florence Isabirye Muranga
A few reports have shown bananas to contain varying amounts of phenolic compound and their composition and quantity is known to be influenced by various factors. Two banana triploid varieties (AAB) and (ABB) were investigated for their total phenolic content and antioxidant activities at two maturity levels. The peels for both varieties contained higher polyphenols content (159.77- 182.74 GAE mg/100 g) than the pulps (42.85-54.04 GAE mg/100 g) in mature bananas. However, the pulp contained higher polyphenolic content (414.94- 523.60 GAE mg/100 g) than the peels when the bananas were young (150.48- 199.61 GAE mg/100 g). The antioxidant activity as measured by DPPH and FRAP revealed that the banana samples that were studied exhibited a high antioxidant activity irrespective of the variety, plant part and growth stage. Additionally, characterization of the phenolic compounds revealed that Mature Gonja (AAB) peel had a higher number of polyphenolic compounds identified such as Rutin and its derivatives as well as Kaempferol derivatives
