Banana peel vinegar General profile
Banana peel vinegar is developed by the Home Resources Management Section, Special Services Division Division of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), (ATI), DA, using using its own funds. funds. At present, it is already being commercially produced on a backyard scale, mostly by homemakers. The product is not yet exported. The sources of data and information are PNB (1991) and the interview of Jimenez. 35 Production structure Material inputs. The inputs needed in banana peel vinegar making are locally available like the peels of banana of the cooking varieties, sugar, and water. Production technology. The production technology for banana peel vinegar is local in origin and is patterned after the technology for producing other vinegars such as coco and palm vinegar. To produce banana peel vinegar, banana peels are first thoroughly washed and cut into squares which are then placed in a jar with a mixture mixture of sugar and water. The jar is then covered with a clean cloth to allow alcoholic fermentation fermentation to occur. The mixture is stirred stirred at times until banana banana peels are submerged and the froth which formed formed above the mixture mixture is removed. After four four weeks, when the fermentation process is completed, the mixture is drained to extract the vinegar. The vinegar is then stored in clean bottles. In order to maintain the acidity acidity level of the vinegar, it must be pasteurized. There are two ways to do this. this. One is to put the bottles of vinegar in a casserole with water and heated at 65 degrees centigrade for about 20 minutes. The other is to place the vinegar in an enamel casserole then subjected to heat at the same temperature and length of time. All in in all, three bottles of vinegar vinegar can be produced from one cup of banana peels, four cups of water and one-half cup of sugar. As a small-scale business venture, banana peel vinegar making is labor-intensive and requires simple production equipment o nly. Production capacity A study which analyzes the banana peel vinegar industry industry has yet yet to be done. Thus, at present, data on production performance in both industry and plant level are not available. Production economics A financial analysis of banana peel vinegar production is not available based on both literature and the interview with ATI. Nevertheless, banana peel vinegar making is a venture which requires low initial capital because of inexpensive equipment and raw materials needed in the backyard scale production. At present, it is is estimated that the production cost for three bottles o banana peel vinegar produced is =P1.30 and the selling price per bottle is is =P3.50. This indicates that a commercial production is highly profitable. pro fitable.
Utilization Banana peel vinegar, like ordinary table vinegar, is used as condiment or seasoning in different dishes. Since its production requires low investment, many homemakers and other backyard operators have ventured into this small-scale business whose main36 clientele are usually neighbors as well as buyers from nearby places. Environmental and other positive qualities Three qualities of banana peel vinegar production which make it environmentally preferable are: a) the utilization of banana peel as input makes good use of an abundant agricultural waste; b) the reuse of production waste materials, i.e., banana peels, either as supplementary feeds for animals like hogs, or as organic fertilizer, result in no pollutive discharges; and c) the safeness of the product in food because it has no chemical content which is detrimental to human health. Banana peel vinegar production will raise employment level and income of the rural poor as well as increase returns from the small-scale banana industry in the co untryside. Product substitute The substitutes for banana peel vinegar are those made from coco, palm, sugarcane and other. Information on the domestic production of these products are not available, however, the country's vinegar import has been declining in both value and volume. This may mean that local vinegar brands have become competitive and popular in the local market and have become substitutions for imported ones. In turn, this suggests that banana peel vinegar should have a ready domestic market, assuming it is competitive with other local vinegar brands in terms of price, quality and availability. International market The Philippines has been exporting vinegar from 1988 to 1992 and both the volume and value of exports have been growing at a healthy rate annually. Therefore, locally produced vinegars are already used by foreign consumers. If banana peel vinegar will prove to be an internationally viable substitute to other vinegar brands, then it will be a potential exportable commodity in the future.
