Banana twist

It’s not only the fruit of a banana plant that can be eaten. Its stem can be made into chaat, an Indian snack.

Food blogger @foodie_incarnate shares on Instagram a video of a street vendor preparing chaat with raw banana stems. The video shows him chopping the soft stem into tiny pieces and mixing it with sliced cucumbers, grated carrots, spice-coated chickpeas or garbanzo beans, and a pinch of salt, NDTV reports.

The vendor then adds a spoonful of spicy green chutney or Indian spread and sweet-sour sauce before topping the mixture with aloo bhujia, which is a crispy snack made with boiled potatoes, spices, herbs and flour.

After squeezing a lemon into the mix, it is served on a banana leaf.

For Ugandan entrepreneur Juliet Tumusiime, banana stems discarded by farms have another use.

The 42-year-old chief executive and co-founder of Cheveux Organique creates a biodegradable product she describes as an alternative that benefits health and the environment.

Cheveux Organique buys discarded banana stems, which are split and then the fibers are extracted by machine, are then dried and treated before being combed out, resulting in a hair-like texture, CNN reports.

The fibers are dyed black, brown or blonde before being braided. The finished product is an alternative to disposable synthetic hair extensions and wigs.

According to Tumusiime, some people complain that synthetic hair can irritate their scalp because it has harmful heavy metals and chemicals.

The hair and wig made from banana fibers, however, are “durable and can be easily styled, treated and colored. It can also be rewashed in warm water and conditioned with detangling cream,” CNN quoted Tumusiime.

“When dry, the hypoallergenic hair can be oiled and can withstand dryers and heat up to 400 degrees, lasting weeks longer than synthetic alternatives,” she added, according to CNN.

Meanwhile, by using discarded banana stems, Tumusiime helps curb agricultural waste.