Plantain (大蕉) and banana are among the most important staple food crops in humid forest zone of West and Central Africa. This is due to the crops contribution to food security, employment, diversification of income sources in rural and urban areas, and contribution to the gross national product (GNP). Banana is the world’s second most important fruit crop after oil palm. It is grown in 130 countries worldwide, world production stood at 71 million metric tonnes. However no Africa country is ranked among the top 10 countries for banana production in the world while eight African countries were named among the top ten world producers of plantain with Nigeria ranking as the fifth highest producer of the crop. Presently plantains are of less importance than banana in terms of world trade in the genus but in West and Central Africa about 70 million people are estimated to derive more than one quarter of their food energy requirement from plantains. Moreover plantains have a high carbohydrate content (31g/100 g) and low fat content (0.4 g/100 g). They are good sources of vitamins and minerals, particularly iron (24 mg/kg), potassium (9.5 mg/kg), calcium (715 mg/kg), vitamin A, ascorbic acid, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin.
