Banana (Musaceae) is one of the world’s most
important fruit crops that is widely cultivated in tropical
countries for its valuable applications in food industry. Its
enormous by-products are an excellent source of highly
valuable raw materials for other industries by recycling
agricultural waste. This prevents an ultimate loss of huge
amount of untapped biomass and environmental issues. This
review discusses extensively the breakthrough in the utilization
of banana by-products such as peels, leaves, pseudostem,
stalk and inflorescence in various food and nonfood
applications serving as thickening agent, coloring and
flavor, alternative source for macro and micronutrients,
nutraceuticals, livestock feed, natural fibers, and sources of
natural bioactive compounds and bio-fertilizers. Future
prospects and challenges are the important key factors discussed
in association to the sustainability and feasibility of
utilizing these by-products. It is important that all available
by-products be turned into highly commercial outputs in
order to sustain this renewable resource and provide additional
income to small scale farming industries without
compromising its quality and safety in competing with other
commercial products