Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Pisang Berangan (Musa paradisiaca) Pulp and Peel Extracts

Abstract

Banana is a tropical fruit that has a diverse range of species belongings to the genus Musa and Musaceae family. Pisang Berangan or known as Musa paradisiaca is frequently sliced and fried and sold as popular street food in Malaysia. This produced banana waste from the banana peel that was not fully utilized, however, the peel and pulp of bananas are reported to have dominant antioxidant properties and organic materials. The study was carried out to determine the extraction yield, total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity of banana Pisang Berangan (Musa paradisiaca) pulp and peel extracted using different extraction solvents; ethanol and methanol at 70 % and 90 % concentrations. The antimicrobial properties were determined using the disc diffusion method (DDM), Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) assays. The highest extraction yield was from banana pulp (28.3 %) extracted using 90 % ethanol, followed by methanol 90 % (27.8 %). The total phenolic content (TPC) of alcoholic-extracted pulp and peel was in the range of 15.1 to 17.7 mg GAE/g. Among both pulp and peel extracts, the ethanol (90 % of solvent) extraction exhibited significantly higher antioxidant activity that has been analysed using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay to determine the IC₅₀. The largest inhibition zone was observed for the ethanol extract of banana peel against Salmonella typhi at a concentration of 500 mg/mL. Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus exhibited the highest value of MIC and MBC while Salmonella typhi was the lowest of MIC and MBC value against banana pulp and peel alcoholic extracts. In general, the greater properties of pulp and peel extracts were obtained by using 90 % ethanol. The present study revealed that both ethanol and methanol extracts of the Musa spp. contain constituents with significant phenolic, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties for food processing explorations and sustainability.