Havana, September 22 (PL-RHC)-- Cuban scientists are developing a natural product from banana, rich in dietary fiber, minerals, vitamin C and antioxidants, to add it to cereals and other foods considered delicacies to make them more nutritious.

Acitan is a product obtained after removal of the fruit of the plant, qualifying as a nutritional supplement and functional food, Prensa Latina was told by the Master of Science and Technology of Food, Ivón García Martín, specialist with the business group Labiofam, a scientific entity that has a range of 54 products in production and development.

The expert, a participant with a paper on the subject in the recently concluded Sixth Latin American and Caribbean Congress on Safety and Quality of Food, in Havana, said the island is planning to build a factory where full advantage can be taken of the plantain (banana) to obtain natural products and nutritional supplements.

A multidisciplinary team of scientists, agronomists and Cubans, is investigating the development of natural sources for incorporation into food matrices and replacing the use of chemical fertilizers by bio-products, Garcia said.