Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the First Peoples – the Traditional Owners of the lands where we live and work, and recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay respect to Elders – past, present and emerging – and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within the research zingHOUSEunlimited undertakes.

STOCK FODDER


Dehydration 

Green bananas are easier to dry than ripe ones (Babatunde, 1992). Drying green bananas does not alter significantly the quality of the product. Dried banana pulp can be ground into banana pulp flour but this process is expensive (about 68 kg of fuel oil or 25 kWh per tonne of fresh material) and it is usually justified only for feeding pre-ruminant calves or piglets (Geoffroy, 1980; Le Dividich et al., 1978). 
NOTE: With renewable energy the expense indicated here may well be discountable

Silage 

Bananas are perishable and cannot be stored for a long time in their fresh form. Ensiling is a low-cost option that can help to preserve bananas, when they are abundant, for periods of feed scarcity (Le Dividich et al., 1975; Sève et al., 1976). Bananas are easy to ensile and no additives are required. The silage stabilizes in three to four days and keeps for at least six months. Green bananas should be chopped before ensiling as they compact less easily than ripe bananas. Silage made from green bananas loses less dry matter (10-15%) than silage made from ripe bananas, because most of the simple sugars in the latter are degraded or disappear, whereas starch losses are limited. Although ripe fruit silage may have a more favourable pH and lactic acid content than green banana silage, the latter is to be preferred, particularly when sudden peaks occur in banana supplies owing to seasonal factors, market constraints and meteorological conditions (Le Dividich et al., 1978).

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