Go Bananas!
Belizean Plantains
Ethnicity and Backround
The first belizean banana trade was between Honduras and New Orleans, but this was wiped out in the 1920’s after an outbreak of Panama disease. The Banana Control Board took control of production and then went into massive amount of debt shortly after. As a result, the BCB sold hundreds of acres off to the private sector. Britain was the sole buyer of belizean bananas, and Fyffes(Irish subsidiary of the U.S.) handled the majority of exports. Before 1990, Belizean bananas had to go through Honduras until Fyffes constructed Big Creek which served as the new main shipment port for these type of bananas. In the early 1990’s, this branch of bananas production was hampered by black sigatoka. This disease still hampers these bananas today.
The plantains include all the major nutritional importance including a significant amount of carbs, fats and proteins. They contain 58 grams of carbs, 14 grams of fats, and 2 grams of protein.
Intro to Plantains
Significant Health Benefits
Reliable source of starch and energy
More calories than regular bananas
Contains 2.3 g of dietary fiber per 100 g
More vitamin C and Vitamin A than regular bananas. (Provides 31% and 37% respectively of the daily recommended amounts of these vitamins)
- Rich source of vitamin b particularly b6
- More potassium than regular bananas
Nutritional Adequacy
Cutting the plantains
fried plantains
14-fat
2-protein
Conclusion
Although they are a great source of potassium, plantains are soaked in various types of oils that can be too fatty for our bodies to break down and process. A 1 cup serving of fried plantains provides 14 grams of total fats, 4.4 grams of saturated fats, 5.1 grams of monounsaturated fats and 3.2 grams of polyunsaturated fats. Mono and polyunsaturated fats are "good" fats and may reduce the risk of heart disease. This unfortunately does not make a healthy impact on the american diet since we already intake high amounts of fat recurringly.