A University of Queensland researcher who is working to arrest a serious Vitamin A deficiency in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) believes she may have uncovered an under-utilised weapon against chronic disease in Australia: bananas.
PhD student Lois Englberger, who has worked and studied in FSM since 1997, began testing native bananas on the advice of Micronesian locals who had long used the fruits as traditional weaning foods.
As imported foods - such as rice and sweet and fatty products - have increasingly replaced the islands' native foods in recent years, negative health consequences have followed, including the emergence of Vitamin A deficiency characterised by night blindness.
Ms Englberger said her search for local foods with high amounts of provitamin A carotenoids - the precursors to Vitamin A - led her to discover a number of banana varieties and giant swamp taro that contained very high amounts of the carotenoids.
"Excitingly, these are actually the first varieties of bananas and giant swamp taro in the world that have been identified as being Vitamin A-rich," she explained.
While the news was promising for FSM, Ms Englberger said her current research also held possible implications for Australian nutrition, particularly in terms of meeting the health challenges posed by chronic diseases.
"Recent research has indicated that a diet rich in carotenoids may work against the onset of chronic disease. It follows that bananas rich in carotenoids may have special value for both children and adults," she said.
"To date, the banana industry has focused worldwide on marketing and producing only the Cavendish. Perhaps it is time we looked at alternative varieties, as well as native Australian foods that could be untapped sources of Vitamin A."
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