In addition to providing farmers with banana seedlings, the Taiwan Banana Research Institute has also dedicated funding and time to research efforts that help develop different kinds of banana products, the most recent being its banana flower-based cosmetic products.
Institute director Chiu Chu-ying (邱祝櫻) said the institute, located in Pingtung County, had used banana flower extract to create an assortment of cosmetic products, including hydrolates, face-wash mousses, moisturizers and mosquito repellents.
Chiu said institute visitors were surprised that banana flowers could be used in such a fashion.
Photo: Lo Hsin-chen, Taipei Times
FLOWER EXTRACTS
Chiu said the institute is in talks with manufacturers on the development of even more diversified products using banana flower hydrolates and extracts.
Institute manager Pan Wei-hsin (潘唯心) said the institute saw a rise in visitor numbers during the post-COVID-19 pandemic period and, in order to provide visitors with more room, the institute is repurposing a workroom as an on-site store, selling the various products made by the institute.
The institute was founded with the goal of enhancing Taiwanese banana production and sales, with a large part of its research dedicated to the prevention of pests that would prey on banana crops, the conservation of banana species and research into new hybrid cultivars, as well as technology on propagating healthy banana seedlings.
The institute also conducts research into specific fertilizers for bananas, as well as improving banana harvesting and transportation.
The institute said that just this month, the CEO of the Vietnam-based Truong Hai Group, Tran Ba-duong (陳寶山), visited the institute and said that Taiwan’s precision agriculture was doing well for itself, as it could make many diverse products.
The institute said that developing alternative and diverse products utilizing bananas could increase the added value of processed banana goods and would alleviate the issue of banana overproduction.
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