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Thread: Okay I'm going to get weird looks now...Banana Peels?

  1. #1
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Okay I'm going to get weird looks now...Banana Peels?

    So if you have been following any of my ramblings on water conditioning through non-standard fashions.. I have been interested in tannins which led me to looking at tannins in fruit like Bananas and grapes ( you know that pucker up feeling when these are raw is tannin related)


    http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...te-with-Coffee
    http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...af-tank-trials


    I went down yet another rabbit hole...slipped on the proverbial Banana peel. Yes those left over parts of the banana that usually end up in the Garbage or the compost pile. I was looking for natural ways to purify water and started coming across using banana peels. Apparently they have some pretty amazing properties and can filter out heavy metals and toxins .

    The information coming out on this is really something interesting.. both for a human consumption use and as aquaculture use. Have a read..

    https://www.acs.org/pressroom/pressp...-purifier.html

    https://www.livescience.com/13276-ba...ic-metals.html
    Compounds in banana peels contain atoms of nitrogen, sulfur and organic compounds such as carboxylic acids. These acids are charged such that their negatively charged electron pairs are exposed, meaning they can bind with metals in the water that usually have a positive charge, Castro explained.


    The researchers found that minced banana peel performed as well or better at removing copper and lead than many other filtering materials, quickly removing both from water in the Paraná River in Brazil.

    "Theextraction capacity found was superior to many synthetic materials developed in the last decade," Castro said.

    They noted that a purifier made of layers of minced banana peel could be used up to 11 times without losing its metal-snagging properties. Synthetic materials can be reused more times, but natural materials are dramatically cheaper and do not require chemical processing to work.

    Now my household uses a ton of bananas, My son is smoothie King and we all eat them. I also feed alot to my tortoises. I buy organic ones so I can feed the skins as well to the tortoises. Supposedly these are great for people too healthwise, though man o Man they are not tasty at all.

    I'm thinking I may try drying out some peels and filtering water Tank through it..It could be a good way to work out a hobbyists scale recirculating water system.

    I do know that banana peels have been used as nutrient sources for garden plants and I saw references to them being used for aquarium plants as well. Anyone ever try that in the aquarium? That nutrient release is a concern I admit.

    Anyhow, just the ramblings of a mad scientist here..but you know I have got to try it out.

    al
    Last edited by brewmaster15; 02-23-2023 at 11:40 AM.
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  2. #2
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Okay I'm going to get weird looks now...Banana Peels?

    Hmmm, I am guessing everyone has rushed out to buy Bananas?

    Some facts


    How many banana varieties exist and what are the differences?

    There are more than 1*000 varieties of bananas produced and consumed locally in the world, but the most commercialized is the Cavendish type banana, which accounts for around 47 percent of global production. Cavendish banana crops are able to achieve high yields per hectare and, due to their short stems, are less prone to damage from environmental influences such as storms. Cavendish banana plants are also known for recovering from natural disasters quickly. Approximately 50 billion tonnes of Cavendish bananas are produced globally every year.

    Virtually all bananas supplied to the US and European markets are Cavendish

    What is the current volume of global banana production?

    Precise figures on total global banana production are difficult to obtain as banana cultivation is often conducted by smallholder farmers and traded in the informal sector, which is often untraceable. For example, some 70-80 percent of production in Africa are local bananas that have been present on the continent for over 1*000 years. These are mostly cooking bananas that are a popular and important staple food. Available data indicate that between 2000 and 2017, global production of bananas grew at a compound annual rate of 3.2 percent, reaching a record of 114 million tonnes in 2017, up from around 67 million tonnes in 2000.


    What is the estimated harvested area globally?


    Approximately 5.6 million hectares of land are dedicated to banana production globally, according to latest available data from 2017 (FAOSTAT). The rapid expansion of the banana industry is evident in the evolution of the harvested area over time, which amounted to 3.6 million hectares in 1993 and 4.6 million hectares in 2000 (FAOSTAT).

    Which countries are the biggest banana importers?


    By far the biggest importer is the European Union, which accounted for an annual average of 32 percent of total global imports between 2010 and 2016, followed by the United States (25 percent). The Russian Federation (8 percent), Japan (6 percent) and China (5 percent) are other noteworthy importers. The main importer of organic bananas is the United Kingdom.

    more here..
    https://www.fao.org/economic/est/est.../#.Y_fDu7TMKEI



    50 billion tonnes of Cavendish bananas are produced globally every year.
    Thats alot of Banana there! and all those skins just waiting to be repurposed into Discus Water Filters.
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
    Simplydiscus LLC Owner
    Aquaticsuppliers.com


    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

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    Default Re: Okay I'm going to get weird looks now...Banana Peels?

    The Cavendish banana may be going extinct. See this article: https://www.businessinsider.com/cave...disease-2021-6

    This would be a big deal to my wife and not so much for me as I don't really like bananas. It isn't that I dislike them, but if I never had another one it would be okay. Strawberry bread is better than banana bread anyway. JMHO

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    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Okay I'm going to get weird looks now...Banana Peels?

    That would be really bad.. hopefully they can cross it to a resistent variety of banana.


    Coffee is facing some serious issues too.... https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32736366

    Not fun.. all the things I want to experiment with here..peat.. coffee .. bananas are all underfire .. figures.

    I think I could live without bananas but coffee would be horrendous.

    Al
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    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
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    Aquaticsuppliers.com


    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

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    Default Re: Okay I'm going to get weird looks now...Banana Peels?

    Very interesting Al. I am not a Banana Holic, but I do enjoy a good banana now and then. My favorite variety is an ice cream banana called Java Blue Ice. I was aware of some of their wonderful properties, but had no idea of their metal removal and filtering qualities/capabilities!

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    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Okay I'm going to get weird looks now...Banana Peels?

    Al, both you and Pat are crazy. You're the mad scientist. Pat's the mad jumping spider lady. I, on the other hand am perfectly normal.
    Mama Bear

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    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Okay I'm going to get weird looks now...Banana Peels?

    Quote Originally Posted by LizStreithorst View Post
    Al, both you and Pat are crazy. You're the mad scientist. Pat's the mad jumping spider lady. I, on the other hand am perfectly normal.
    LIZ, You keep Discus ... Normal people dont do that. But thank you! Being a mad scientist was one of my life's great aspirations.
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

    Al Sabetta
    Simplydiscus LLC Owner
    Aquaticsuppliers.com


    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

  8. #8
    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Okay I'm going to get weird looks now...Banana Peels?

    It actually gets worse for me. I have a chicken that is an inside/outside hen. She's the only survivor of fox. She's a good girl in nice weather, but when it's cold or raining it's hard to get her outside. Of course, she $hits all over the floor. At night, she prefers to get into her cage. She's 3 1/2 years old now and I thought that she was done laying. But she surprised me yesterday and gave me her first egg of the year. Her name was Olivia, but that didn't seem to suit her. I call her by her nick name, Chicken Chicken.

    The thing is that at my age I don't have to say I'm crazy. I get to be eccentric now.
    Mama Bear

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    Default Re: Okay I'm going to get weird looks now...Banana Peels?

    AL
    Interesting. When I was in Costa Rica we were at a plantation owned by Dole. The office got a message stating that a ship from Greece
    had docked in the harbor waiting for a delivery of bananas. A call went out to all the small houses around the factory[an open sided thatched pavillion type building} and people started coming out of the homes in droves
    to start work harvesting, washing, breaking the bunches into some size and packing. In 1 hour they had loaded a trailer for delivery to the ship and another truck
    pulled in to repeat the process all over again. There were 10 trucks lined up.An amazing thing to watch.
    Also, I personally let them brown somewhat to become sweeter and my wife has for years steeped skins in water she uses to water her many,many plants.

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    Default Re: Okay I'm going to get weird looks now...Banana Peels?

    Quote Originally Posted by brewmaster15 View Post
    LIZ, You keep Discus ... Normal people dont do that. But thank you! Being a mad scientist was one of my life's great aspirations.
    WOW, Not a more true statement could be made. Discus keepers, REAL discus keepers that are kept by discus are a breed above all imho. And Al I am right there with you on the mad scientist aspirations statement.

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