Mukasa said they are trying out a number of scientific processes, including those used in countries such as India and others in South Eastern Asia where a lot of banana is grown.

They obtain the feedstock – uprooted banana stems — used in ethanol production from the local farms. These are then transported to the production facility at Narl where they are washed and classified. “It is then crushed into pieces, left to dry and mixed with sorghum or millet in drums where it is left to ferment for a period of 6-24 hours depending on the brewing system.

Thereafter ethanol is extracted and packaged for industrial use,” Mukasa said. The scientists have gone ahead to refine the ethanol for hand washing for the prevention of Covid-19 and conducted demonstrations with farmers in Kasese District to explore its potential use in alcohol production.

They also intend to work with brewery industries to produce ethanol in large volumes for commercialization.

Starch extraction

Apart from processing ethanol, Mukasa and team are also extracting banana starch from banana fingers for industrial use. The process involves peeling, washing, crushing and drying the banana fingers in the oven under a regulated temperature to obtain the banana powder.

The required volume of banana powder is mixed with water and a solution of sodium bisulfite ion, a food preservative. The liquid suspension of the resulting mixture is then centrifuged to separate the crushed banana finger material and the white banana starch will settle at the bottom.