Abstract
Potash alkali and metal contents of ashes obtained from peels of six varieties of Nigeria Musa species were investigated. The varieties of Musa species – Musa paradisiaca (plantain), Musa ‘Gross Michel’ (Igbo banana), M.sapientum L. (paranta), Musa ‘Wild Banana’ (omini), Musa ‘Red’ (sweet banana), and Musa ‘Fugamo’ (somupeke), were investigated. The moisture, dry matter, ash and alkali contents; concentration of metals in the ashes and in the contents extracted with water from the ashes; and the ratio of potassium to other metals in the ashes and in the corresponding extracts were determined. Moisture contents ranged from 80.9 to 86.7%; dry matter content, 13.3 to 19.1%; ash content, 6.3 to 12.0%; alkali content, 69.0 to 81.9% of ash and 4.7 to 9.6% of dry sample. Samples ranged between 2.60 and 720mg/kg and in the corresponding extracts, BDL to 500.49mg/kg; ratio of concentration of potassium to other metals in the samples, 0.6 to 395; and in the extracts, 0.5 to 313. Gross michel showed the highest concentration of K (750mg/kg) while omini banana gave the lowest average value (112.70mg/kg).Download PDF