Differentiation between Cooking Bananas and Dessert Bananas. 1. Morphological and Compositional Characterization of Cultivated Colombian Musaceae (<i>Musa</i> sp.) in Relation to Consumer Preferences

The morphological, physical, and chemical characteristics of 23 unripe cultivated varieties of Colombian Musaceae were assessed. Fresh pulp dry matter helped to discriminate the following consumption subgroups: FHIA dessert hybrids (hydes: 24.6%) < dessert bananas (des: 29.4%) < nonplantain cooking bananas (cook: 32.0%) hycook: 34.2%) pl: 41.1%). Banana flour starch content on dry basis (db) varied from 74.2 to 88.2% among the varieties, with: pl: 86.5% > cook and hycook: 84% > des: 81.9% > hydes: 79.7% (p ≤ 0.01). Flour pH varied in the range 4.8 to 6.2, with the highest pH for the plantain subgroup (5.6), which also had lower titratable acidity than those of the cooking banana and FHIA groups with 7.9, 13.6, and 15.6 mEq H+/100 g db, respectively (p ≤ 0.05). pl and hycook presented the highest glucose and fructose contents at 0.8% and 1.5% (p ≤ 0.05). No significant differences were observed between the groups in proteins (3.2%), total soluble sugars (1.7%), and crude fibers (3%). pl had lower ash, calcium, and magnesium contents (2.7%; 8.4 and 90.7 mg/100 g db) than des (3.2%; 9.3 and 117.9 mg/100 g db) and hydes (3.9%; 23.7 and 125 mg/100 g db) (p ≤ 0.05). pl and des had significantly lower peel percentages (38%) than the other subgroups (42−45%). The principal components analysis (PCA) highlights the strong relationship between some of the varietal characteristics and the consumption pattern, which is especially marked for the plantain subgroup in relation to stakeholder and the consumer preferences

Data_Sheet_1_Processors' Experience in the Use of Flash Dryer for Cassava-derived Products in Nigeria.docx

This study was designed and carried out to ascertain the situation and perceptions of end users of cassava flash drying equipment in Nigeria with the aim of giving suggestions to policies and approaches for improved technology. Forty-one processing firms were selected and interviewed. Descriptive analyses were used and a logistic regression model was estimated. The results revealed that 49% of the firms stopped using their flash dryers due to the low demand for high-quality cassava flour (HQCF) resulting from the high cost of processing occasioned by an inefficient heat-generating component. The estimated model provides evidence that cost effectiveness (p < 0.05) and energy cost (p < 0.10) are the two major determinants of the continuous usage of flash dryers in the study area. Forty-one percent of the firms indicated willingness to pay for any technical adjustment of their flash dryers, supposing such adjustment would improve on drying and the energy efficiency of the equipment up to 40%. The study recommends that machine fabricators in Nigeria and other African countries should be trained on the production of energy- and cost-efficient small-scale flash dryers. Again, the design and commercialization of flash dryers that can be mounted on mobile trucks for farm-gate processing should be encouraged to facilitate farm-gate processing, thereby reducing postharvest losses resulting from transporting perishable and bulky roots over a long distance.</p

Expected changes in habitat suitability for cultivated <i>Bactris gasipaes</i> var. <i>gasipaes</i> in the future compared with hotspots of allelic richness based on a combination of our genetic dataset with that of Hernández <i>et al</i> [37].

<p>The suitable areas shown here largely correspond to the overall area for which the modelling ensemble predicts habitat suitability for at least 15 out of the 19 different future climate models considered.</p

Metrics of model calibrations and evaluation under current environmental conditions for projections to past and future climate conditions.

<p>Metrics of model calibrations and evaluation under current environmental conditions for projections to past and future climate conditions.</p

The distribution of cultivated (<i>Bactris gasipaes</i> var. <i>gasipaes</i>, triangles) and wild (var. <i>chichagui</i>, dots) peach palm observation points.

<p>The points used only for modelling and gathered from sources other than this study are reported in blue and green, whereas the points referring to samples used in this study are shown in red or yellow, depending on the additional analyses carried out on each (genetic or phenotypic characterization). The red, blue and green polygons show the approximate distribution of <i>Bactris</i> wild types [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0144644#pone.0144644.ref020" target="_blank">20</a>]; the grey lines divide the different regions of Amazonia (NWA: north-western Amazonia, GS: Guyana shield, EA: eastern Amazonia, CA: central Amazonia, SA: southern Amazonia, SWA: south-western Amazonia; after [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0144644#pone.0144644.ref034" target="_blank">34</a>]).</p

Spatial distribution of allelic richness (A) and locally common alleles (B) based on the cultivated samples (~20 individuals per population) from the <i>Bactris gasipaes</i> var. <i>gasipaes</i> dataset of Hernández <i>et al</i> [37].

<p>Spatial distribution of allelic richness (A) and locally common alleles (B) based on the cultivated samples (~20 individuals per population) from the <i>Bactris gasipaes</i> var. <i>gasipaes</i> dataset of Hernández <i>et al</i> [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0144644#pone.0144644.ref037" target="_blank">37</a>].</p

Spatial distribution of allelic richness (A), locally common alleles (B), observed heterozygosity (C) and variation in standardized phenotypic diversity (D), measured as coefficient of variation (st dev/mean) in our <i>Bactris gasipaes</i> var. <i>gasipaes</i> dataset.

<p>The blue, green and red polygons in Fig 3d indicate areas of occurrence of different peach palm landraces [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0144644#pone.0144644.ref020" target="_blank">20</a>] (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0144644#sec010" target="_blank">discussion</a>). Blue polygons enclose the mesocarpa landraces (20–75 gr) Rama (1), Útilis (2), Cauca (3), Pampa Hermosa (7), Tigre (8), Pastaza (9) and Inirida (10); green areas include the microcarpa landraces (< 20 gr) Tembe (4), Juruá (5) and Pará (6); and red polygons refer to the macrocarpa landraces (75–200 gr) Putumayo (including Solimões, 11) and Vaupés (12). It is important to note that the many locations for which only one accession was included in the phenotypical characterization are not included in the Fig 3d because the coefficient of variance can only be calculated for two or more individuals.</p

Distribution of potential LGM refugia of peach palm (green areas) and distribution of rescaled locally common alleles (A) and rescaled allelic richness (B).

<p>The genetic data visualized is based on a spatial combination of the results from the present study and that of Hernández <i>et al</i>[<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0144644#pone.0144644.ref037" target="_blank">37</a>]. The blue, green and red polygons indicate areas of occurrence of different peach palm landraces (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0144644#sec010" target="_blank">discussion</a>) [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0144644#pone.0144644.ref020" target="_blank">20</a>]. Blue polygons enclose the mesocarpa landraces (20–75 gr) Rama (1), Útilis (2), Cauca (3), Pampa Hermosa (7), Tigre (8), Pastaza (9) and Inirida (10); green areas include the microcarpa landraces (< 20 gr) Tembe (4), Juruá (5) and Pará (6); and red polygons refer to the macrocarpa landraces (75–200 gr) Putumayo (including Solimões, 11) and Vaupés (12). Several LGM suitable areas are not visible as they graphically coincide with the extent of the circular neighbourboods of the genetic data. This is the case in particular for the circular neighborhoods overlapping with the polygons describing the distribution of the Pampa Hermosa and Tigre landraces.</p