It turned out that bananas are good for vision.
Carotenoids contained in various varieties of bananas, can improve eye health. The study is published in the journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Vitamin a deficiency is widely distributed in Africa and Southeast Asia, resulting in 250,000 to 500,000 children lose their sight each year, the researchers note. Half of these children die within a year after loss of vision.
To combat a vitamin deficiency, And scientists have explored methods to enhance carotenoids in bananas, as these compounds are converted in the liver into vitamin A. However, this approach was hampered due to a lack of understanding of how bananas are produced and retain carotenoids. The researchers decided to eliminate this gap.
They studied two varieties of bananas, to find out why they produce different amounts of carotenoids. Scientists have discovered that bananas are a pale yellow color have a low carotenoid content.
In the variety “Cavendish” more of the enzyme that breaks down carotenoids. And orange the variety of bananas “Aspina” contains carotenoids in microscopic sacs at maturity, therefore they have a higher content of these substances.
The researchers say that their work will help in the development of biofortification and the cultivation of bananas, which contain more carotenoids
