Phytochemical screening and potential values of banana rowers (Musa Sp.)

Banana flower is an edible part of the banana plant which has nutritional values such fibers, fatty acid, vitamins E, proteins and minerals. It has become a byproduct which sometimes considered as waste material many people especially for modern people. The objective of this report is to extract the banana flower `berangan' and banana flower `awak'. The goal of this research is to screen the phytochemical compounds that presence and also to quantify the content of saponin and tannin in these types banana flower. The methods used in this research are soxhlet and maceration extraction whereby ethanol 95% and hexane was used as the solvent. The yield extract was used for the phytochemical test and for determination of the tannin and saponin content. As result, the total yield that was obtained from soxhlet extraction shown higher percentage result which is 8.41 ± 0.47 compared to maceration extraction which only 7.72 ± 0.23. As for the tannin content, the yield of tannin is 5.04 ± 0.02 mg TAE /100 g for ‘berangan' type and 5.99 ± 0.04 mg TAE /100 g for `awak' type. The yield of the saponin in both of the banana flower is quite high which are 1.54 ± 0.06 and 2.26 ± 0.06 for berangan' types and `awak' types respectively. In overall, the total yield percentage obtained from soxhlet extraction is higher than maceration extraction. The most effective solvent for the extraction is ethanol 95%. By comparing the two types of banana flower, the content of tannin and saponin is higher in `awak' type than `berangan' type. This research can be an adding value for banana flower due to modern people assuming that it is a waste. The banana flower can be developed into convenience types of food product such biscuits.