ABSTRACT

Plantain plants are among the world’s biggest herbs, grown abundantly in many developing countries. The by-products of plantain fruits, especially plantain peels are usually thrown away by producers in plantations. The aim of this study was to analyze the proximate and mineral compositions of ripe plantain peels collected from Benin city and its environs. 4 Local Government Areas were visited- Ovia North-East, Egor, Oredo and Ikpoba-Okha. The result from this study showed that the proximate composition of ripe plantain peels consisted of moisture content of 6.14%, 6.14%, 6.52% and 7.00% in Ovia North-East, Egor , Oredo and Ikpoba-Okha respectively. Dried matter had a composition of 93.00% to 93.86%, Crude Protein content had a composition of 5.40% in Ovia North-East, 7.44% in Egor, 6.56% in Oredo and 6.42%. Crude fat content 6.402%, 6.357%, 5.587% and 6.062% in the 4 Local Governments respectively. Also, Crude fibre content recorded 8.666% in Ovia North-East, 7.631% in Egor, 7.767% in Oredo and 8.224% in Ikpoba-Okha. Furthermore, Ash content recorded highest in Egor (5.612%) and the NFE content had no significant difference in the 4 Local Government Areas (P>0.05). The mineral content of plantain peels ranged in the following order: K recorded values of 404.9mg/kg, 490.1mg/kg, 417.3mg/kg, 446.3mg/kg in Ovia North-East, Egor, Oredo and Ikpoba-Okha respectively; Mg recorded significant difference (P<0.05) in Ovia North-East (9.97mg/kg) and Ikpoba-Okha (10.96mg/kg); Na, P and Ca was of no significant difference (P>0.05) in the different locations visited. Zn was significantly different in Egor (1.611mg/kg), Oredo (1.964mg/kg) and Ikpoba-Okha (2.583mg/kg). Fe was highest in Ikpoba-Okha with value 13.40mg/kg. The results of this study has shown the high nutritional content of these plantain peels and as such, it can be used effectively as animal feed and also, because of its cost efficiency it is a good replacement for maize in the diets of animals.