Nutritional Evaluation of Banana Peelings from the Various Banana Varieties in Different Regions of Uganda

In Uganda, peri-urban agriculture is very important in sustaining livelihoods of the increasing population in urban and peri-urban (U & PU) areas. However, this form of agriculture has a number of problems, feed shortage being the most important. The agricultural produce brought in from the rural areas is marketed in raw form hence increasing the crop wastes in the market areas. The crop wastes, if properly sorted, can serve as alternative feeds for the animals kept in the U & PU areas. Banana (Musa spp) peelings (BP) constitute the largest proportion of all the crop wastes in most markets in areas where they are the staple food crop and have become a popular feedstuff. Unfortunately, there is scanty literature on their nutritive and feeding value. Different varieties are grown in the different banana growing areas. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the nutritive value of BP of the different banana varieties from central, eastern and western Uganda. In vitro dry matter digestibility (INDMD) of the banana peelings was also determined